&iTK     AGRIC,  DEPT, 


REPORT 


isconsin  Special  Legislative  Cor 


FORESTRY 


Senate  and  Assembly 


Made  to  the 

Members    of   the    1915   Session    of    the    W 
Legislature 

Pursuant  to 
CHAPTER  670  OF  THE  LAWS  OF  191 


1 


REPORT 

of  the 

^ V  / 

Wisconsin  Special  Legislative  Committee 


on 


FORESTRY 

of  the 

Senate  and  Assembly 


Made  to  the 

Members    of    the    1915    Session    of    the    Wisconsin 
Legislature     •   :  s  . . .  »•   ,, 


Pursuant  to  , 
CHAPTER  67Q  OF  THE  LAWS  OF  1913. 


PERSONNEL  OF  COMMITTEE  AND  ASSISTANTS 


Members 

Senators: 

A.  PEARCE  TOMKINS,  Chairman,  Ashland,  Wis. 
HENRY  A.  HUBER,  Stoughton,  Wis. 
W.  L.  RICHARDS,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Assemblymen: 

AXEL  JOHNSON,  Secretary,  Turtle  Lake,  Wis. 

R.  J.  NYE,  Superior,  Wis. 

H.  M.  LAURSEN,  Shell  Lake,  Wis. 

E.  J.  KNEEN,  Bangor,  Wis. 

0.  F.  ROESSLER,  Jefferson,  Wis. 

Clerical  Force 

A.  V.  GRUHN,  Reporter,  Racine,  Wis. 

C.  H.  RAWLINSON,  Clerk,  La  Crosse,  Wis. 

Cruisers 

JOSEPH  STEVENS,  Washburn,  Wis. 
ERNEST  DOPP,  Superior,  Wis. 
GEO.  L.  COTT,  Shell  Lake,  Wis. 


32O971 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

Page 

Adoption  of  Report 7 

Bill:    Relating  to  Consolidation  of  Departments .  67 

Bill:    Relating  to  Taxation  of  Private  Timberlands 63 

Committee  Findings;   Summary  of 75 

Consolidation  of  State  Board  of  Forestry  with  other  Departments        ...  66 

Change  in  Fire  Law 58 

Findings  of  Committee;    Summary  of 75 

Financial  History  of  State  Board  of  Forestry •'.:'•.  31 

Fire  Law;    Change  in 58 

Introduction 9 

Investigation:    Methods  of 13 

Letter  of  Transmittal 8 

Methods  of  Investigation          . 13 

Personnel  of  Committee  and  Assistants 3 

Private  Timberlands;    Taxation  of 62 

Report;    Adoption  of 7 

Report  and  Findings  of  Committee 34 

Summary  of  Committee  Findings 75 

Summary  of  Work  and  Financial  History  of  the  State  Board  of  Forestry    .    .  22 

Taxation 60 

Taxation  of  Private  Timberlands 62 

Transmittal,  Letter  of 8 

Work  of  the  State  Board  of  Forestry .     .  22 


Letter  of   Trans  mittal 

Honorable  Sirs: 

On  behalf  of  the  Special  Legislative  Committee  on 
Forestry,  appointed  under  Chapter  670  of  the  Laws 
of  1913,  I  transmit  herewith  their  report. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

(Signed)   A.   PEARCE  TOMKINS, 

Chairman. 

To    the    Members    of   the    Wisconsin    Legislature    for 
the  Session  of  1915. 

Dated,   Ashland,   Wis.,  Jan.  4,    1915. 


Hotel  Wisconsin,  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin, 

January  4,    1915. 

Mr.  Roessler  moved  that  the  report  herewith  sub- 
mitted by  the  Chairman  be  adopted  as  the  final  re- 
port of  this  Special  Legislative  Committee  on  For- 
estry, the  same  be  filed  with  the  secretary  of  state 
with  the  request  that  he  have  printed  two  thousand 
copies  thereof;  that  no  bill  defining  the  extent  of  the 
proposed  permanent  reserve  or  a  method  of  disposal  of 
the  agricultural  lands  be  submitted  at  this  time  but  that 
such  bill  be  offered  separately  to  the  Legislature  at  a 
future  date,  the  report  to  contain  a  statement  that 
such  a  bill  will  be  so  offered;  and  that  the  Chairman 
be  authorized  to  affix  the  signatures  of  the  members 
of  this  Committee  now  present  on  said  report. 

The  motion  was  seconded  by  Mr.  Nye  and  upon 
roll  call  the  vote  was  as  follows:  Ayes — SENATORS 
Huber  and  Tomkins.  ASSEMBLYMEN  Johnson, 
Nye,  Kneen  and  Roessler.  Noes — None.  Total 
Vote — Ayes,  6;  Noes,  none. 

Approved: 
(Signed)   A.   PEARCE  TOMKINS. 

Chairman. 


INTRODUCTION 


A  storm  of  protest  was  raised  in  Northern  Wis- 
consin by  the  statement  in  the  report  of  the  State 
Forester  for  the  years  1911  and  1912  that  the  present 
state  forest  holdings  of  400,000  acres  should  be  in- 
creased so  that  the  reserve  would  consist  of  between 
one  million  and  one  million  and  a  half  acres  in  order 
to  block  up  and  consolidate  the  present  State  lands. 
The  same  report  claimed  that  the  State  should  pur- 
chase at  least  800,000  acres  more  in  the  permanent 
forest  reserve  area  and  it  recommended  that  the 
Legislature  pass  a  bill  defining  the  boundaries  of  the 
reserve  as  follows:  Commencing  at  the  southwest 
corner  of  T.  38,  R.  3  E.,  Price  county,  thence  east 
along  the  south  line  of  T.  38  to  the  eastern  boundary 
line  of  Forest  county,  or  the  southeast  corner  of  T. 
38,  R.  14  E.;  thence  north  along  the  east  line  of  R. 
14  E.,  to  the  Wisconsin-Michigan  boundary  line,  or 
the  Menominee  river;  thence  west  along  the  WTiscon- 
sin-Michigan  boundary  line  to  the  northeast  corner 
of  section  13  in  T.  44,  R.  4  E.;  thence  south  on  the 
east  line  of  R.  4  E.  to  the' northeast  corner  of  T.  43, 
R.  4  E.;  thence  west  to  the  northwest  corner  of  T. 
43,  R.  4  E.;  thence  south  to  the  northwest  corner  of 
T.  41,  R.  4  E.;  thence  west  to  the  northwest  corner 
T.  41,  R.  2  E. ;  thence  south  to  the  southwest  corner 
of  T.  41,  R.  2  E.;  thence  east  to  the  northwest  cor- 
ner of  T.  41,  R.  2  E.;  thence  east  to  the  northwest 
corner  of  T.  41,  R.  3  E.;  thence  south  to  the  south- 
west corner  of  T.  38,  R.  3  E.,  or  the  point  of  begin- 
ning, excepting  from  the  same  the  following:— 

1.  Lands   within   the  limits   of   any   village   or   city. 

2.  The    following    townships    or    portions    of    town- 

ships: 

(a)  T.  39  R.  6,  E. 

(b)  The  south  half  of  T.  40,   R.   6   E. 

(c)  The  east  two-thirds  of  T.  38,   R.   9   E. 

(d)  The    south    two-thirds    of    T.    38,     R. 

10  E. 

(e)  T.   38,   R.    11   E. 
(/)   T.  40,  R.   10  E. 


; 

• 

;v  ?  *  ^ 

»        'c'*"'       "^H-    -  •>        *  ^?\ 

--"iv"*     ^  "rK(ty)*X-41,  R.  10  E. 

(h)  The    north    two-thirds    of    T.    41,    R. 
11   E. 

The  announcement  of  the  above  policy,  together 
with  the  misunderstanding  brought  about  by  a  lack 
of  knowledge  of  the  intention  of  those  interested  in 
forestry,  engendered  such  a  feeling  in  the  north- 
eastern part  of  Wisconsin,  particularly  in  the  counties 
of  Forest,  Iron,  Oneida,  Price  and  Vilas,  that  every 
pressure  possible  was  brought  to  bear  upon  the  mem- 
bers at  the  last  session  of  the  Legislature  to  stop 
further  purchases  by  the  Board.  This  seemed  partly 
to  have  grown  out  of  a  misunderstanding,  not  as  to 
the  location  of  the  lands  to  be  taken  as  a  permanent 
forest  reserve,  but  as  to  the  character  of  the  lands  so 
to  be  used.  A  Jarge  delegation  was  present  at  the 
hearing  on  the  bill  creating  this  Special  Joint  Com- 
mittee and  a  great  deal  of  interest  and  bitterness 
was  displayed  by  the  people  of  the  district  affected. 

An  examination  of  the  pages  of  the  report  of  the 
State  Forester*  will  show  conclusively  that  it  never 
was  the  intention  of  the  Forestry  Board  to  take  any 
but  non-agricultural  lands.  The  following  was  the 
language  used  by  him:  "The  proposed  act  should 
clearly  point  out  that  it  is  the  intention  of  the  state 
to  eventually  acquire  all  the  unoccupied  and  non- 
agricultural  lands  suitable  for  forestry  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  forest  reserve." 

This  will  also  be  seen  from  the  following-  quota- 
tions from  the  reports  of  the  State  Forester: 

"It  is  one  of  the  tenets  of  forestry  that  no  land 
should  be  held  permanently  under  forests  which  is 
more  suitable  for  agriculture,  and  every  parcel  of 
land  within  the  state  forest  reserve  will  be  examined 
with  this  in  mind,  so  that  land  which  is  valuable  for 
agriculture  may  be  withdrawn  and  offered  for  sale. 
By  such  careful  selection,  the  creation  of  an  adequate 
state  forest  reserve  will  in  no  way  retard  the  devel- 
opment of  northern  Wisconsin,  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  state's  forest  policy  of  cutting  conserva- 
tively, and  so  always  having  something  to  cut,  will 
in  a  few  years  give  to  all  the  settlers  near  the  re- 

*  Report  1911-1912,  Page  21. 


serve,  plenty  of  good  paying  work  during  the  winter, 
when  it  is  most  needed.  Every  state  has  areas  that 
are  not  arable,  and  such,  but  only  such,  should  be 
held  permanently  under  forests. "(*) 

"The  best  available  estimates  show  that  there  is 
approximately  13,000,000  acres  of  unimproved  land 
in  the  twenty-two  northern  counties.  Most  of  this 
land  has  a  good  soil,  is  free  from  rocks  and  is  well 
adapted  to  farming,  so  that  eventually  probably 
10,000,000  acres  will  be  used  in  some  form  of  agri- 
culture, leaving  some  3,000,000  acres  for  forest 
growth. 

"It  should  be  understood  that  these  figures  are 
mere  estimates,  based  upon  the  best  available  figures, 
but  they  are  probably  approximately  correct  in  the 
proportion  of  agricultural  to  non-agricultural  land 
and  give  some  idea  of  the  situation. 

"It  need  not  be  feared  that  the  State  Board  of 
Forestry  will  try  to  class  agricultural  as  forest  land, 
for  i.t  is  one  of  the  main  tenets  of  forestry  that  tim- 
ber should  not  be  held  upon  land  suited  to  agri- 
culture, as  there  is  enough  land  in  every  country 
which  is  suited  only  to  forest  growth.  However, 
although  foresters  receive  some  training  in  soil  analy- 
sis, they  are  not  experts  and  should  not  attempt  to 
finally  classify  lands,  where  the  question  is  a  close 
one  to  decide,  as  it  is  in  so  many  sections  of  northern 
Wisconsin."(t) 

"Town  and  county  officials  and  land  companies 
are  naturally  loath  to  admit  that  any  of  their  land 
is  non-agricultural,  and  they  are  prone  to  charge 
foresters  with  discouraging  settlement.  But  the 
tenets  of  forestry  are  that  no  land  should  be  kept  for 
forestry  that  is  more  valuable  for  agriculture,  and 
certainly  the  Forestry  Board  would  be  inclined  to 
welcome  settlers  in  the  forest  reserve  as  they  would 
usually  prove  good  workmen  whose  interests  would 
be  identical  with  those  of  the  state. 

"But  the  Forestry  Board  would  be  doing  a  great 
wrong  to  encourage  any  man  to  locate  on  an  isolated 
tract  of  rather  doubtful  agricultural  land  in  the  heart 

*  Report  1906,  Page  7. 

t  Report  1909-'10,  Page  59. 


of  the  forest  reserve,  for  though  the  man  might  be 
willing,  it  would  doom  his  wife  and  children  to  a 
hard,  lonely  existence  without  the  benefits  of  good 
schools  of  a  growing  community."  (*) 

The  people  of  Northeastern  Wisconsin  were  led  to 
believe  that  it  was  the  purpose  of  the  Forestry 
Board  to  acquire  all  the  lands  within  this  proposed 
area  excepting  a  few  townships  adjoining  the  settle- 
ments, villages  or  cities  therein.  If  the  language 
used  by  the  State  Forester  is  carefully  studied  it  can 
clearly  be  seen  that  this  was  not  their  purpose. 
The  intention  was  to  restrict  future  purchases  to  a 
given  area  and  to  confine  those  purchases  as  nearly 
as  possible  to  lands  not  suited  to  agricultural  use  and 
unprofitable  for  farming.  This  could  not  be  done,  of 
course,  without  acquiring  some  agricultural  lands,  but 
where  the  attention  of  the  Board  had  been  called  to 
lands  of  known  agricultural  value,  these  districts  had 
been  eliminated  and  the  lands  offered  for  sale  by  the 
State. 

During  the  session  Bill  No.  487,  A.  was  enacted 
unto  a  law  and  became  chapter  670  of  the  Laws  of 
1913.  This  bill  provided  for  the  appointment  of 
three  members  of  the  Senate  by  the  President  thereof 
and  five  members  of  the  Assembly  by  the  Speaker 
thereof  whose  duty  it  was,  first,  to  report  at  the  next 
regular  session  what  areas  of  land  now  held  as  forest 
reserve,  and  those  parts  proposed  to  be  included 
within  such  forest  reserve,  within  the  counties  of 
Forest,  Iron,  Price,  Oneida  and  Vilas  are  bette-i 
adapted  to  agricultural  than  to  forestry  purposes 
and  whether  the  best  interests  of  all  persons  con- 
cerned, and  especially  the  taxpayers  of  the  State  will 
not  be  better  promoted  by  devoting  said  lands  to 
other  than  reforestation  purposes.  Pursuant  to  this 
act  the  following  members  were  appointed:  Senators: 
A.  Pearce  Tomkins,  Henry  A.  Huber,  W.  L.  Richards, 
Assemblymen:  Axel  Johnson,  Ray  J.  Nye,  H.  M. 
Laursen,  E.  J.  Kneen  and  0.  F.  Roessler. 


*  Report  1911-1912,  Page  57. 


METHODS    OF   INVESTIGATION. 


On  the  20th  day  of  October,  1913,  the  members  of 
this  Committee  together  with  three  practical  cruisers 
of  long  experience,  Messrs.  Joseph  Stevens  of  Wash- 
burn,  Wis.;  Ernest  Dopp  of  Superior,  Wis.;  and 
George  L.  Cott  of  Shell  Lake,  Wis.;  met  at  Minoc- 
qua  in  Oneida  County  and  proceeded,  first,  to  the 
State  Forestry  Headquarters  at  Trout  Lake. 

During  a  period  covering  the  next  nineteen  days, 
from  this  point  and  from  Bould'er  Jet.,  the  Blue 
Grass  Farm,  Kraft'.s  Camp  in  43-7,  Star  Lake,  Say- 
ner,  Eagle  River,  Tomahawk  Lake,  Rhinelander, 
Knapp's  Resort  on  Sugar  Camp  Lake  in  38-9,  Min- 
ocqua,  Hazelhurst,  Powell,  Manitowish,  Mercer, 
Winchester  and  the  Ranger's  Cabin  at  Rest  Lake, 
the  Committee  under  the  guidance  of  the  above 
named  cruisers  and  with  the  assistance  of  different 
forest  rangers  furnished  by  the  Department  of  For- 
estry spent  their  time  in  a  personal  examination  of 
the  following  townships  or  parts  of  townships: 
Township  38  north,  range  6  east;  T.  38  N.,  R.  7  E.; 
T.  38  N.,  R.  8  E.;  T.  38  N.,  R.  9  E.;  T.  38  N.,  R. 
10  E.;  T.  39  N.,  R.  5  E.;  T.  39  N.,  R.  6  E.;  T.  39 
N.,  R.  7  E.;  T.  39  N.,  R.  8  E.;  T.  39  N.  R.  9  E.; 
T.  ^O  N.,  R.  6  E.;  T.  40  N.,  R.  7  E.;  T.  40  N., 
R.  8  E.;  T.  40  N.,  R.  9  E.;  T.  40  N.,  R.  10  E.; 
T.  41  N.,  R.  3  E.;  T.  41  N.,  R.  4  E.;  T.  41  N., 
R.  6  E.;  T.  41  N.,  R.  7  E.;  T.  41  N.,  R.  8  E.; 
T.  41  N.,  R.  9  E.;  T.  42  N.,  R.  4  E.;  T.  42  N.,  R. 
5  E.;  T.  42  N.,  R.  6  E.;  T.  42  N.,  R.  7  E.;  T.  42 
N.,  R.  8  E.;  T.  42  N.,  R.  9  E.;  T.  43  N.,  R.  4  E.; 
T.  43  N.,  R.  5  E.;  T.  43  N.,  R.  7  E.;  T.  44  N., 
R.  5  E. 

These  trips  were  made  on  foot  except  where,  by 
use  of  horses,  railroad  speeders,  and  trains  time  could 
be  made  in  going  to  and  from  a  starting  point. 
Care  was  at  all  times  taken  to  know  almost  the 
exact  location  of  the  different  parties  into  which  the 
Committee  was  divided.  Every  effort  was  made  to 
reach  the  farms  located  in  the  area  visited  and  to 
engage  the  farmers  in  conversation  and  get  their 


14  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY  COMMITTEE 

ideas  as  to  the  agricultural  possibilities  of  the  lands  with 
which  they  were  familiar.  In  this  way  the  Com- 
mittee got  most  excellent  information  as  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  soil  and  general  topography  of  the  coun- 
try. The  visit  was  made  at  a  time  of  the  year  when 
a  considerable  distance  could  be  covered  with  very 
little  fatigue  and  when  the  trees  were  devoid  of  fo- 
liage and  the  ground  bare  so  that  soil  conditions 
could  be  plainly  seen.  This  trip  was  made  to  cover 
the  wildest  part,  perhaps,  of  the  forest  reserve  area 
and  into  a  region  where  there  were  very  few  settlers, 
although,  of  course,  on  many  occasions  the  Com- 
mittee visited  territories  which  were  quite  thickly 
populated,  especially  for  this  Northern  country. 
Notes  were  made  on  every  section  reached,  and  on 
the  return  of  the  party  to  headquarters  at  night  one 
member  of  each  crew  dictated  a  report  of  the  day's 
trip  with  such  additions  as  the  other  members  and 
cruiser  Accompanying  them  might  suggest.  These 
were  signed  by  the  Committee  members  and  cruisers 
and  have  been  preserved. 

The  route  covered  by  each  crew  was  planned  by 
the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  and  an  examination 
of  the  map  showing  the  area  inspected  will  demon- 
strate that  some  of  the  townships  were  covered  most 
thoroughly. 

The  rangers  were  of  great  assistance  as  guides, 
being  familiar  with  the  different  roads,  section  cor- 
ners, quarter  posts,  lakes  and  other  land  marks  and 
were  depended  upon  to  guide  the  Committee  to  the 
places  desired  to  be  reached,  where,  with  the  assis- 
tance of  the  cruisers,  no  difficulty  was  had  in  ascer- 
taining the  exact  location. 

On  February  5  and  6,  1914,  pursuant  to  notices 
published  for  several  weeks  in  all  of  the  newspapers 
printed  in  Vilas  county,  a  hearing  was  called  at  the 
Court  House  in  Eagle  River.  Through  a  misunder- 
standing upon  the  part  of  some  of  the  people  inter- 
ested from  that  district  and  a  desire  to  have  the 
meetings  held  in  t'he  summer,  an  attempt  was  made 
to  adjourn  this  meeting  by  the  people  of  Vilas 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY  COMMITTEE  15 

county.  On  arrival  at  Eagle  River,  however,  it  was 
found  that  several  people  desired  to  be  heard,  so 
that  the  day  of  the  5th  and  part  of  the  6th  were 
occupied  in  taking  testimony  as  to  the  character  of 
the  soil  and  the  agricultural  possibilities  of  Vilas 
county  in  particular  and  all  the  lands  in  the  forest 
reserve  area  in  general. 

After  this  hearing  adjournment  was  had  until  the 
10th  of  March,  1914,  at  Phillips,  Wis  ,  where  after 
notice  being  given  as  in  the  case  of  the  Eagle  River 
meeting,  a  hearing  was  held  and  many  witnesses 
appeared  and  testified. 

Like  hearings  were  then  held  at  Hurley  in  Iron 
county  on  the  llth;  Crandon,  Forest  county  on  the 
12th  and  13th;  Eagle  River  on  the  16th  and  17th; 
Rhinelander,  Oneida  county,  on  the  19th  and  20th. 
These  hearings  were  all  well  attended;  many  cruisers, 
lumbermen,  real  estate  men,  farmers,  and  others  well 
acquainted  with  the  lands  in  these  five  counties  were 
sworn  as  witnesses  and  furnished  the  Committee  with 
much  information. 

On  June  22d  several  members  of  the  Committee 
met  at  Minocqua,  Wis.,  and  by  the  use  of  two  auto- 
mobiles made  a  trip  which  included  Woodruff,  Coon's 
resort  at  Trout  Lake,  the  Wright  Farm,  Blue  Grass 
Farm,  Boulder  Jet.,  A.  L.  Stevenson  Farm  in  T. 
41-7,  State  Headquarters  at  Trout  Lake,  High  Lake, 
Forestry  Cabin  in  Section  12-42-8,  Star  Lake,  Say- 
ner,  St.  Germain  Lake,  Eagle  River,  Sugar  Camp 
Lake  in  T  38-9,  Rhinelander,  where  a  morning  was 
spent  in  company  with  Senator  W.  T.  Stevens  in 
visiting  several  farmers,  Newbold,  McNaughton, 
Hazelhurst,  and  back  to  Minocqua.  All  farms 
within  reach  were  inspected.  At  this  time  of  the 
year,  though  the  spring  was  somewhat  backward, 
opportunity  was  presented  to  get  a  good  idea  of 
what  could  be  expected  from  the  soil.  Small  grain 
was  all  up,  the  hay  had  most  of  its  growth,  and  corn 
and  potatoes  were  above  the  ground.  This  trip 
covered  much  of  the  same  area  visited  by  the  Com- 
mittee in  the  fall.  Mr.  John  Bolger,  a  farmer  and 


16  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

heavy  land  owner  of  Minocqua  and  Mr.  E.  M. 
Weaver,  Chief  Forest  Ranger,  were  with  the  party. 
The  reason  for  covering  substantially  the  same  area 
as  examined  in  the  fall  was  to  see  the  territory  at  a 
time  when  everything  was  in  bloom  and  growing, 
because  the  former  trip  was  made  at  a  period  when 
practically  all  vegetation  was  dead.  While  it  might 
be  said  that  in  both  of  these  trips  the  territory 
covered  was  some  of  the  wildest  and  poorest  in  the 
proposed  forest  reserve,  still,  visits  were  made  to 
some  of  the  very  best  kind  of  land.  Members  of 
'the  Committee  at  all  times  went  out  of  their  way  to 
visit  the  fields  of  farmers  and  into  their  granaries 
and  cellars  to  see  what  crops  had  been  harvested. 

Prior  to  this  last  trip  an  attempt  was  made  to 
have  the  Executive  Committee  of  which  Mr.  A.  W. 
Brown  is  the  Chairman  and  Mr.  B.  N.  Moran  the 
Secretary,  and  known  as  the  "Executive  Committee 
Representing  the  Counties  of  Forest,  Iron,  Oneida, 
Price  and  Vilas,"  plan  a  trip  and  accompany  the 
party,  but  this  was  refused,  they  stating  that  the 
trip  should  be  made  at  a  later  date. 

In  the  latter  part  of  July  the  Chairman  of  this 
Forestry  Committee  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
above  mentioned  Executive  Committee  asking  that 
they  fix  a  date  or  dates  for  the  Committee  to  make 
another  tour  of  inspection  in  their  company  and 
under  their  guidance,  but  no  reply  was  had  to  this 
letter. 

On  July  23,  1914,  the  following  members  of  the 
Committee  met  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.;  Senators:  A. 
Pearce  Tomkins,  and  H.  A.  Huber;  Assemblymen: 
R.  J.  Nye,  E.  j.  Kneen,  and  H.  M.  Laursen  for  the 
purpose  of  making  a  tour  of  inspection  of  the  forest 
reserves  of  Pennsylvania,  New  York  and  Connecti- 
cut and  with  the  further  idea  of  visiting  as  many 
private  plantings  of  white  and  norway  pine  as  could 
be  conveniently  reached  and  of  seeing  as  much  as 
possible  of  the  natural  reproduction  of  these  two 
specie  where  they  had  been  protected  from  fire  and 
otherwise. 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE  17 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  24th  the  members  were 
met  at  Galeton,  Potter  County,  Pa.,  by  Hon.  Robert 
S.  Conklin,  Hon.  I.  C.  Williams,  Hon.  Simon  B. 
Elliott,  and  Hon.  J.  Linn  Harris,  of  the  State  For- 
estry Conservation  Commission,  together  with  several 
other  foresters  and  parties  interested  in  forestry  work. 
Visits  were  made  to  the  State  Nursery  at  Asaph  in 
Tioga  county,  plantings  of  trees  about  Cross  Fork  in 
Potter  county,  and  an  inspection  made  of  their 
ranger  cabins,  telephone  lines,  roads,  and  fire  lines 
in  what  is- known  as  the  Stewardson  Township  dis- 
trict. Every  courtesy  possible  was  extended  by  Mr. 
Conklin  and  the  other  gentlemen  of  Pennsylvania 
and  much  valuable  information  received  as  to  the 
practical  work  in  forestry  and  an  ample  opportunity 
given  to  compare  the  work  of  the  Pennsylvania  for- 
estry department  with  that  of  'our  own  State. 

On  July  27  the  party  was  taken  in  charge  by  Hon. 
Clifford  R.  Pettis,  State  Supt.  of  Forests,  of  New 
York  State,  at  Saranac  Lake,  N.  Y.  This  is  in  the 
Adirondack  Forest  Reserve.  Visits  were  made  to 
Raybrook  and  Chub  Hill  plantations,  Saranac  Inn 
Nursery,  Lake  Clear  Nursery,  and  the  Carley  Nur- 
sery and  to  the  State  plantings  at  Lake  Clear 
Junction  and  Paul  Smiths.  The  plantings  in  New 
York  are  more  extensive  than  in  Pennsylvania  and 
the  work  has  been  carried  on  since  1901  so  that 
plantings  of  trees  up  to  thirteen  years  were  seen. 
The  oldest  growth  was  of  scotch  pine  near  Lake 
Clear  Junction.  These  trees  averaged  eighteen  feet 
in  height.  Several  plantings  of  white  and  norway 
pine  were  also  seen.  These,  without  exception,  were 
doing  well,  illustrating  that  the  planting,  cultivation 
and  growing  of  pine  trees  from  nursery  stock  is 
feasible.  Nowhere  was  there  any  failure  or  sign  of 
failure. 

Mr.  Pettis  also  accompanied  the  Committee  to 
Warrensburg  and  Chestertown,  N.  Y.,  in  the  terri- 
tory West  and  North  of  Lake  George.  Here  many 
thousands  of  acres  of  natural,  second  growth  of  white 
pine  were  seen  ranging  in  age  up  to  sixty  years.  The 


18  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY  COMMITTEE 

soil  in  this  territory  is  sandy  by  reason  of  which  it 
seems  that  the  white  pine  seed  has  a  much  better 
opportunity  to  germinate,  and,  therefore,  the  very 
best  results  were  obtained  from  natural  seeding. 
Many  stands  of  pine  were  here  seen  which  would  be 
coveted  by  the  lumbermen  of  Northern  Wisconsin. 
In  fact,  the  growth  is  such  now  that  some  of  it  is 
being  cut. 

Considerable  of  the  lands  upon  which  were  found 
this  second  growth  of  white  pine  were  old  abandoned 
farms  which  had  been  cultivated  for  many  years  and 
given  up  because  of  their  light  sandy  nature  making 
them  unprofitable  for  farming. 

No  better  opportunity  could  possibly  be  had  for 
studying  the  attempts  of  nature  to  reforest  cut-over 
and  abandoned  farm  lands.  Everywhere  that  any 
seed  trees  had  been  left,  excellent  growths  were 
found;  and  where  the  fire  had  been  kept  out  the 
second  growth  stand  was  fully  as  good  as  the  virgin 
timber.  There  is  no  reason  why,  with  •  the  proper 
fire  protection,  much  of  Northern  Wisconsin  will  not 
v  in  time  become  rehabilitated  with  a  growth  of  white 
and  norway  pine  of  great  commercial  value. 

Mr.  Charles  Faxon  of  the  Faxon  Estate  at  Ches- 
tertown  imparted  much  valuable  information  to  the 
Committee,  showed  them  over  his  holdings  and  ac- 
companied them  on  a  visit  to  his  private  plantings, 
one  of  which  was  white  pine  planted  in  1884.  This 
planting  adjoined  a  natural  second  growth  forest  so 
that  a  very  good  opportunity  was  afforded  for  a  com- 
parison of  natural  and  artificial  forest  growths. 

At  Warrensburg  the  Committee  visited  a  planta- 
tation  of  white  pine  thirty  years  old.  This  planting 
was  made  by  an  Episcopal  Congregation,  was  two 
acres  in  extent,  and  showed  a  fine  growth. 

On  the  31st  day  of  July  the  Committee  was  met 
by  Hon.  Walter  0.  Filley,  Chief  Forester  for  the 
State  of  Connecticut,  at  Hartford,  Conn.  Under 
his  direction  the  Rainbow  plantations  conducted  by 
the  Forestry  Department  and  consisting  of  many  dif- 
ferent varieties  in  all  ages  of  growth  up  to  fourteen 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY  COMMITTEE  19 

years,  were  visited.  We  next  saw  the  planting  of 
white  and  norway  pine  owned  by  Mr.  Amos  Bridge 
of  Hazardville,  Conn.,  planted  by  the  Shakers  some 
forty  or  forty-five  years  ago.  The  next  day  in  com- 
pany with  Mr.  Filley  and  Professor  J.  W.  Tourney, 
Dean  of  the  Yale  Forestry  School,  plantings  of  the 
New  Haven  Water  Company  adjacent  to  the  City  of 
New  Haven,  and  two  private  plantings  at  Greenfield 
Hill  near  Bridgeport  were  examined.  Not  only  from 
the  work  seen  and  the  plantations  visited  but  from 
the  opportunity  afforded  in  coming  in  contact  with 
men  thoroughly  versed  in  the  work  of  the  forestry 
departments  of  these  three  great  States  did  the  Com- 
mittee gain  much  valuable  knowledge. 

On  Aug.  3,  in  company  with  Hon.  Robert  S. 
Conklin  a  trip  was  made  to  the  Mt.  Alto  Forestry 
School  at  Mt.  Alto.,  Pa,  and  here  the  Old  Forge, 
Irishtown,  Monaghan  and  South  Mountain  planta- 
tions were  seen.  The  plantings  were  older  than  in 
the  North  Central  part  of  Pennsylvania  and  the  re- 
sults obtained  covered  a  longer  period  of  time. 
Pennsylvania  has  planted  6,000  acres  principally  to 
white  and  norway  pine  averaging  2,000  trees  to  the 
acre.  This  planting  has  cost  on  an  average,  $9  per 
acre,  exclusive  of  cost  of  land  and  interest  on  the 
investment. 

On  all  the  tours  of  inspection  many  growths  of 
white,  scotch,  norway  and  western  yellow  pine, 
European  larch  and  norway  spruce  were  seen.  These 
plantations  covered  hundreds  of  acres  and  all  stages 
of  growth  from  one  year  to  twelve  years.  Every- 
where the  results  were  the  same.  Nowhere  had  the 
attempt  to  grow  trees  proved  unsuccessful.  The 
stock  all  appeared  thrifty  and  showed  wonderful 
growths  each  year.  Some  of  these  were  measured  by 
the  Committee  and  reached  a  growth  of  thirty-five 
inches  for  this  year,  and  it  was  stated  that  they 
would  probably  grow  another  three  inches  before  the 
season  was  over. 

The  Committee  held  a  meeting  with  the  members 
of  the  Forestry  Commission  of  Pennsylvania  and 


20  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

Hon.  I.  C.  Williams,  Deputy  Commissioner  of  For- 
estry, Hon.  Simon  B.  Elliott  and  other  gentlemen 
present  went  into  detail  and  described  the  work  done 
by  the  Forestry  Department  of  Pennsylvania  from  its 
nception. 

Both  Mr.  Pettis  of  the  New  York  Department  and 
Mr.  Filley  and  Prof.  Tourney  of  Connecticut  were 
most  kind  in  furnishing  every  bit  of  information  pos- 
sible and  answering  the  many  questions  of  the  Com- 
mittee. 

Careful  observations  were  made  of  the  soil,  cli- 
matic and  other  conditions  with  the  idea  of  ascer- 
taining just  how  far  conditions  in  the  States  visited 
compared  with  those  of  our  own. 

The  people  of  Wisconsin  will,  no  doubt,  be  inter- 
ested in  the  comparison  of  the  work  of  our  own 
State  with  that  of  the  East.  While  we  have  been  at 
work  a  very  few  years  only,  what  has  been  done 
measures  up  in  every  way  with  the  work  of  our  sis- 
ter States.  The  nursery  beds  at  Trout  Lake  com- 
pare very  favorably  with  Eastern  nurseries  and  are 
fully  as  good  as  any  the  Committee  saw  elsewhere. 
Our  plantings  of  pine,  while  irmch  younger,  are  doing 
fully  as  well.  These  plantings  have  all  been  made  from 
stock  grown  in  our  own  nurseries  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  thousand  Western  Yellow  pine  purchased 
from  the  State  of  Michigan  before  our  own  nurseries 
were  turning  out  any  planting  stock.  When  it  comes 
to  results  obtained  in  the  construction  of  fire  lines, 
telephone  systems  and  rangers'  cabins  and  the  gen- 
eral work  of  maintenance,  we  believe  the  results  we 
have  accomplished  are  as  good,  if  not  better,  than 
those  of  the  three  eastern  States  visited. 

The  State  Forester  is  to  be  congratulated  on  the 
field  force  under  him.  We  found  them  all  to  be  very 
thorough  and  much  interested  in  their  work. 

On  Nov.  12,  13,  and  14,  1914,  a  general  hearing 
was  held  at  the  Hotel  Wisconsin  at  Milwaukee. 
Notices  were  sent  out  to  a  great  number  who  had 
signified  a  desire  to  express  their  views  as  to  the 
kind  of  a  forestry  policy  Wisconsin  should  engage  in. 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE  21 

The  meeting  was  well  attended,  considerable  interest 
shown,  and  much  valuable  inforamtion  was  elicited. 
On  Dec.  18  a  meeting  was  held  at  the  City  of 
Rhinelander  in  Oneida  county  for  a  conference  with 
members  of  the  Legislature  from  that  territory  and 
with  others  from  the  district  affected  by  the  plan  for 
a  proposed  permanent  forest  reserve. 


22 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 


SUMMARY    OF    WORK    AND    FINANCIAL 
HISTORY  OF  THE  STATE  BOARD 
OF   FORESTRY 

(Furnished    by    Mr.    E.    M.    Griffith,    State    Forester, 
upon  questions  submitted  by  the  Committee.) 


Office  Force. 


State  Forester. 
Chief  Clerk___ 
Stenographer.  _ 


Salary 

.$3;600 

._  1,500 

900 


Total $6,000 


Number. 
5 


Field  Force. 

Forestry  Assistants 

1  at  $85  per  month. 

2  at  $60  per  month. 

2  at  $50  per  month. 

NOTE.  Two  of  the  forestry  assistants  devote 
almost  their  entire  time  to  the  forest  nurseries 
and  planting  work. 

Forest  Rangers 12 

1  at  $130  per  month,  Head  Ranger,   (furn- 
ishes two  horses) 

3  at  $100  per  month  (each  furnish  one 

horse) 

3  at  $85  per  month. 
5  at  $50  per  month. 

NOTE.  Where  it  is  necessary  for  a  ranger  to 
purchase  and  keep  a  horse  he  is  allowed  $15  per 
month. 

Number. 

Timber  Cruiser 1 

1  at  $5  per  day  for  time  he  actually  works. 


Locomotive  Inspector 

1  at  $5  per  day  for  time  he  actually  works. 
Laborers  at  Headquarters  Camp 

Laborers  on  forest  reserve,  variable  ( approx. ) 

Crews   building   roads,   fire   lines,   nursery   work, 
planting,  etc. 
Total.. 


Salaries. 
$3,600 


$11,200 


Salaries 
$1,500 

$1,500 

780 
10,000 

.$28,660 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY  COMMITTEE  23 

Buildings. 

The  following  buildings  have  been  erected  on  the  state  forest    re- 
serve, viz: 
Big  Trout  Lake  Cost. 

Headquarters  Camp $5,968 

Barn 1,145 

Boathouse  and  Pumping  Station *  770 

Ice  House  and  Woodshed 676 

Carpenter  Shop [285 

Chicken  and  Tool  House  __  85 


Total ..$8,829 

Rest  Lake 

Ranger  Cabin $1,600 

Barn . _ 540 

Mens'  Cabin 520 

Woodshed  and  Ice  House 275 

Wagonshed  and  Tool  House 165 


Total __$3,100 

Oxley 

Ranger  Cabin $1,500 

Barn___ 757 

Mens'  Cabin I 502 

Woodshed  and  Ice  House.  _  300 


Total $3,059 

Plum  Lake 

Ranger  Cabin $1,614 

Mens'  Cabin 560 

Barn 484 

Ice  House  and  Woodshed 287 

Wagonshed  and  Tool  House 124 


Total $3,069 

Star  Lake 

Ranger  Cabin___ $2,108 

Barn 863 

Mens'  Cabin 472 

Ice  House  and  Woodshed__  266 


Total $3,709 

Wildcat  Lake 

Ranger  Cabin__ $2,414 

Barn 731 

Mens'  Cabin 475 

Woodshed  and  Ice  House. ..  342 


Total..  $3,962 


24  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL   FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

Tomahawk  Lake 

Ranger  Cabin__ _$1,987 

Barn  and  Wagon  Shed 802 

Mens'  Cabin___ 425 

Ice  House  and  Woodshed, _  305 


Total __$3,519 

Carroll  Lake 

Mens'  Cabin $522 

Ice  House  and  Woodshed __  372 


$894 

Buildings    Purchased    by    State    for    Use    of    Forest    Rangers 
and    Patrolmen 

Vilas  County  Value 

Cabin  in  Sec.  28,  41-7  E____ $  50 

Cabin  in  Sec.  12,  42-8  E 300 

Cabin  in  Sec.  14,  43-7  E__  100 


Total $450 

Iron  County  Value 

Cabn  in  Sec.  32,  42-4  E____  $100 

Forest    Nurseries 

Two  forest  nurseries  are  maintained,  one  at  Big 
Trout  Lake,  Vilas  county,  and  the  other  at  Toma- 
hawk Lake,  Oneida  county.  The  nursery  at  Big 
Trout  Lake  contains  approximately  8  acres,  and  has 
an  annual  average  output  of  1,000,000  trees.  The 
average  cost  of  raising  the  young  trees  of  all  species 
including  everything — value  land,  clearing,  fencing, 
seed,  salaries,  labor,  depreciation,  etc.,  is  as  follows: 

1  year  seedlings $  .78  per  thousand 

2  year  seedlings .90  per  thousand 

2  year  transplants 1.72  per  thousand 

The  Tomahawk  Lake  nursery  was  started  in  the 
spring  of  1914,  and  will  produce  its  first  planting 
stock  in  1916.  It  contains  3  acres  and  the  annual 
output  will  be  between  400,000  and  500,000  trees. 
It  is  expected  that  the  cost  of  producing  the  trees 
will  be  approximately  the  same  as  at  the  Trout 
Lake  nursery. 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE  25 

Forest    Plantations 

Approximately  1,000  acres  of  land  in  the  forest 
reserve  which  had  been  cut  and  burned  over  before 
it  was  acquired  by  the  State  and  which  was  not  re- 
stocking naturally,  have  been  replanted  with  the  fol- 
lowing species,  viz:  White  pi-ne,  Norway  pine,  Nor- 
way spruce,  Scotch  pine,  and  Western  yellow  pine, 
the  first  two  species  largely  predominating.  Some 
1,110,200  trees  were  used  in  the  planting  operations, 
and  it  is  estimated  that  at  least  85  per  cent  of  all 
the  trees  are  growing  and  are  in  a  fine  healthy  con- 
dition, and  this  is  more  than  sufficient  to  assure  a 
good,  heavy  stand  of  timber.  The  average  cost  of 
the  plantations,  including  everything — cost  of  trees, 
transportation,  salaries,  wages,  etc.,  has  been  $4.98 
per  acre. 

Sale    of    Nursery    Stock 

In  order  to  encourage  the  reforestation  of  lands 
from  which  the  timber  has  been  cut  and  which  are 
not  suitable  for  farming,  the  policy  has  been  adopted 
of  selling  planting  material  to  citizens  of  the  State, 
at  a  small  cost.  During  1914  there  were  sold  to 
citizens  of  the  State  for  reforestation  in  Wisconsin 
24,000  trees  at  an  average  price  of  $3.50  per  thou- 
sand trees.  It  is  expected  that  this  demand  for 
state  nursery  stock  will  increase  rapidly. 

Surveying  Island   and   Lake   Lots 

Congress  granted  to  Wisconsin  as  additions  to  the 
forest  reserves,  all  unsurveyed  islands  in  inland  lakes 
North  of  town  33.  In  this  way  637  islands  have 
been  added  to  the  forest  reserve,  and  nearly  the 
entire  time  of  one  of  the  forest  rangers  is  taken  in 
surveying  these  islands  and  the  lake  frontages  which 
are  being  laid  off  in  lake  lots.  The  forest  ranger 
detailed  to  this  work  receives  $85  a  month. 

Locomotive    Inspection 

The  passage  of  Chapter  494,  Laws  1911,  gave 
Wisconsin  one  of  the  strongest  and  most  practical 


26  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

laws  in  the  country  for  reducing  the  number  of  for- 
est fires  set  by  railway  locomotives,  donkey,  traction 
and  portable  engines.  One  inspector  is  employed 
and  each  season  he  inspects  between  600  and  700 
locomotives,  and  sees  that  the  railroad  rights  of  way 
are  kept  clean  and  free  of  inflammable  material. 
The  inspector  is  paid  $5  a  day  and  his  traveling 
expenses. 

Cruiser    and    Trespass    Agent 

One  timber  cruiser  is  employed  and  this  man  also 
acts  as  trespass  agent.  His  duties  are  to  look  after 
the  88,822  acres  of  land  owned  by  the  State  outside 
of  the  forest  reserve,  to  prevent  timber  trespass  and 
to  report  on  all  sales  of  land  or  timber.  He  receives 
$5  a  day  and  his  traveling  expenses. 

Care    of   State    Parks 

The  Legislature  in  1913  gave  the  care  and  super- 
vision of  the  State  Parks  to  the  State  Board  of  For- 
estry and  made  the  following  appropriations  for  their 
maintenance  and  improvement  for  two  years: 

Park  Acreage  Appropriation 

Peninsula  State  Park 3,700  acres  $18,000 

Marquette  State  Park 1,671  acres  8,000 

Devil's  Lake  State  Park 1,040  acres  10,000 

Interstate  State  Park 550  acres  2,000 


Total 6,961  acres  $38,000 

Camp   for    Convalescent    Consumptives 

The  State  Board  of  Forestry  is  co-operating  with 
the  State  Board  of  Control  in  establishing  a  camp 
for  convalescent  consumptives  on  the  shores  of 
Tomahawk  Lake,  in  Oneida  county.  The  patients 
will  be  given  work  both  in  the  forest  nursery  at 
Tomahawk  Lake  and  in  forest  planting. 

Forest    Ranger    School 

The  State  Board  of  Forestry  is  co-operating  with 
the  University  in  conducting  a  course  which  trains 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE  27 

men  for  the  work  of  forest  rangers.  From  January 
6  to  April  14  the  instruction  is  at  the  University. 
From  April  16  to  August  1  the  students  are  given 
instruction  and  work  on  the  forest  reserves,  and 
when  working  for  the  State  they  are  allowed  $40 
per  month  and  board. 

Game    Preserve 

In  co-operation  with  the  Game  Warden's  depart- 
ment 218  acres  of  forest  reserve  land  near  Big 
Trout  Lake,  Vilas  County,  have  been  enclosed  in  a 
game  proof  fence  and  stocked  with  deer.  The 
Government  has  offered  to  give  Wisconsin  50  elk  and 
it  is  expected  that  these  will  be  received  early  in 
1915,  and  placed  in  the  game  preserve.  By  liberat- 
ing the  deer  and  elk  as  their  number  increases  the 
forest  reserve  will  be  kept  stocked. 

Study    of   Farm    Woodlots 

In  cooperation  with  the  U.  S.  Forest  Service,  a 
study  of  farm  woodlots  is  being  made  in  order  to 
assist  farmers  in  the  better  management  of  their 
woodlands,  including  the  cooperative  marketing  of 
their  timber.  Sixteen  counties  have  been  com- 
pleted, and  within  two  years  it  is  hoped  to  com- 
plete the  work  for  the  entire  State.  Two  of  the 
forestry  assistants  are  now  devoting  their  entire 
time  to  the  work.  They  receive  $50  per  month  and 
their  traveling  expenses. 

Study      of      the      Taxation      of      Timberlands 

In  cooperation  with  the  U.  S.  Forest  Service,  a 
report  has  been  issued  on  "The  Taxation  of  Forest 
Lands  in  Wisconsin."  The  main  purpose  of  the 
study  was  to  determine  the  extent  of  the  burden 
now  carried  by  timberlands  as  a  result  of  the  pres- 
ent methods  of  taxation,  and  what  influence,  if  any, 
such  methods  of  taxation  have  or  will  have  on  the 
practice  of  forestry  by  private  owners.  The  U.  S. 
Forest  Service  paid  the  salaries  of  the  foresters  in 


28  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY    COMMITTEE 

charge  of  the  work  and  Wisconsin  paid  their  travel- 
ing expenses.  The  cost  to  Wisconsin  of  this  study 
was  $612.54. 

Study    of   the    Wood-Using    Industries 

In  cooperation  with  the  U.  S.  Forest  Service  a  re- 
port has  been  issued  on  the  ''Wisconsin  Wood-Using 
Industries."  The  study  was  made  with  the  idea  that 
by  gaining  a  knowledge  of  the  needs  of  the  manu- 
facturers and  of  the  timber  resources  of  the  State, 
a  rational  forestry  policy  could  be  outlined  so  that 
the  producing  and  consuming  industries  dependent 
on  wood  may  be  perpetuated  and  enlarged. 

The  U.  S.  Forest  Service  paid  the  salaries  of  the 
foresters  in  charge  of  the  work,  and  Wisconsin  paid 
a  portion  of  their  traveling  expenses.  The  cost  to 
Wisconsin  of  this  study  was  $107.25. 

Federal     and     State    Fire    Protective     Work 

Congress  under  the  provisions  of  the  Weeks  Law, 
authorized  the  U.  S.  Forest  Service  to  cooperate  with 
the  various  states  in  protecting  timberlands  upon  the 
headwaters  of  navigable  streams  from  forest  fires. 
The  act  provides,  however,  that  no  part  of  the  ap- 
propriation shall  be  used  in  any  state  that  has  not 
established  a  forest  fire  patrol  system  of  its  own,  and 
therefore  only  a  few  states  were  able  to  qualify. 

Wisconsin's  application  for  assistance  in  protecting 
-the  headwaters  of  the  Wisconsin  and  Chippewa  rivers 
was  approved,  and  for  the  last  four  years  the  Wis- 
consin State  Board  of  Forestry  has  been  allowed 
$5,000  each  year  to  employ  Federal  patrolmen. 
From  about  May  1  to  December  1,  twelve  Federal 
patrolmen  are  employed  to  assist  an  equal  number 
of  state  forest  rangers  in  protecting  all  lands  from 
fire  within  the  forest  reserve.  During  the  last  two 
seasons  the  Chicago  £  Northwestern  Railway  has 
contributed  over  $900  each  year  to  employ  forest 
patrolmen,  and  lumber  companies  and  private  indi- 
viduals have  also  cooperated  in  this  all-important 
work  of  prevention. 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE  29 

Lookout    Towers 

For  forest  fife  protect  on,  four  55-foot  steel  look- 
out towers  have  been  built  on  some  of  the  highest 
hills  within  the  forest  reserve.  From  all  the  towers 
the  country  can  be  seen  for  10  miles  in  almost  any 
direction,  and  during  dangerously  dry  weather  the 
observers  report  immediately  by  telephone  any  fire  or 
smoke  that  may  be  seen.  The  average  cost  of  the 
towers  has  been  $136.90. 

Cutting    Stubs 

Old  dead  stubs  are  one  of  the  most  prolific  means 
of  spreading  forest  fires,  as  the  fire  quickly  runs  up 
the  dead  bark  to  the  top  of  the  tree,  and  a  slight 
wind  will  carry  the  burning  bark  for  long  distances. 
Such  old  stubs  have  been  cut  back  for  six  rods  on 
each  side  of  over  125  miles  of  roads  and  fire  lines  at 
an  average  cost  of  less  than  $6  per  mile. 

Slash    Burning 

Where  the  slash  from  old  lumbering  operations  is 
heavy,  and  especially  where  it  adjoins  timber  or 
other  valuable  property,  it  is  necessary  to  pile  and 
burn  it  so  that  it  shall  not  be  a  constant  meance  to 
the  forest  reserve.  Over  1500  acres  of  dangerous 
slashings  have  been  destroyed  at  an  average  cost  of 
$5  per  acre. 

Roads 

In  order  to  make  the  forest  reserve  easily  acces- 
sible to  the  forestry  force,  to  the  few  settlers  who 
live  in  this  region,  and  to  the  thousands  of  tourists, 
and  also  to  serve  as  fire  lines,  there  have  been  con- 
structed 248  miles  of  dirt  roads,  at  a  cost  of  $32,734, 
or  an  average  cost  of  $131.58  per  mile. 

Fire    Lines 

To  control  the  spread  of  forest  fires,  the  forest  re- 
serves have  been  gridironed  with  a  system  of  roads 


30  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

and  fire  lines.  In  this  way  the  reserves  have  been 
split  up  into  blocks  and  through  this  system  it  is 
comparatively  easy  to  confine  a  forest  fire  to  a  small 
area.  There  have  been  built  141  miles  of  fire  lines 
at  a  cost  of  $11,939,  or  an  average  cost  of  $84.67 
per  mile. 

Telephone    Lines 

The  telephone  is  the  most  important  aid  in  forest 
fire  prevention  and  fire,  fighting,  as  the  headquarters 
camp  and  all  the  ranger  cabins  and  lookout  towers 
are  connected,  and  help  can  be  promptly  secured  as 
soon  as  a  forest  fire  starts.  There  have  been  built 
76  miles  of  telephone  lines  at  a  cost  of  $2,731,  or  an 
average  cost  of  $35.93  per* mile. 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE  31 


SUMMARY    OF   THE    FINANCIAL    HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE 
BOARD     OF     FORESTRY     FROM     ITS     ORGANIZATION 

TO  DATE. 

Appropriations  for  Administration  Purposes: 

1903-  4 $4,045 

1904-  5 --  5,500 

1905-  6 9,800 

1906-7 _-- - 9,800 

1907-  8 9,800 

1908-  9 ,__'„ 9,800 

1909-10___ 9,800 

1910-11 - -' 9,800 

1911-12 + 35,000 

35,000 1912-13 

1913-14 35,000 

Total $173,345       . 

Gifts   of  Land   to   the   Forest   Reserve: 

Nebagamon  Lumber  Co.,  4,321.07  ac.  at  $10.00 $  43,210 

Federal  Government,  19,950.57  ac.  at  $5.00 99,752 

Federal  Government,  637  islands.  _  _  204,566 


Total  Value  of  Donations . $347,528 

Total  Value  of  Donations  to  the  Forest  Reserve $347,528 

Total  Appropriations  for  Administrative  Purposes 173,345 


Excess  Donations  over  Appropriations $174,183 

Purchases  of  Forest  Reserve  Lands: 

Acreage  purchased  from  $2.00  or  less  to  $2.56  60,217.62  acres 

Acreage  purchased  from     2.68  to     3.50  56,972.54  acres 

Acreage  purchased  from     3.75  to     4.60  38,451.95  acres 

Acreage  purchased  from     5.00  to     6.50    3,270.67  acres 

Acreage  purchased  over     6.50  90.77  acres 


Total  Acreage  Purchased 159,003.55 

Acreage  of  Lands  Purchased  and  Donated: 

Total  acreage  purchased 159,003.55 

Total  acreage  donated 24,271.64 


Total..  183,275.19 


32  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

From  the  above  it  will  be  noted  that  the  donations 
of  land  comprise  over  13i  per  cent  of  the  total 
acreage  of  all  lands  acquired. 

Reforestation    Fund 

Congress  in  1906  granted  to  Wisconsin  20,000  acres 
of  land  as  an  addition  to  the  state  forest  reserve  and 
the  act  provided  that  the  scattering  and  agricultural 
land  can  be  sold,  but  that  all  income  from  the  lands 
can  only  be  used  for  reforesting  the  forest  reserve. 
Out  of  the  "Government  Reforestation  Fund"  is 
being  paid  the  cost  of  the  reforestation  work  in  Wis- 
consin, and  there  now  is  a  balance  of  $16,000,  which 
will  pay  for  the  work  for  several  years,  and  there  will 
be  more  income  from  the  same  source  in  the  future. 

Conditions    of   Gifts 

.  The  above  act  of  Congress  provides  that  if  the 
forestry  work  is  ever  abandoned  in  Wisconsin  the 
state  must  return  to  the  Federal  government  the 
balance  of  the  20,000  acres  remaining  unsold,  and 
must  also  refund  to  the  government  all  moneys  re- 
ceived under  the  grant  and  riot  used  in  reforestation 
and  the  interest  which  has  accrued  on  the  fund. 
This  would  mean  that  at  the  present  time  we  would 
lose  some  14,000  acres  of  land  and  would  have  to  pay 
back  to  the  government  approximately  $15,000. 

The  gift  of  land  from  the  Nebagamon  Lumber 
Company  and  also  the  gift  of  637  islands  from  the 
government  have  the  same  conditions  attached, 
namely,  that  they  must  be  returned  to  the  donor  in 
case  the  state  gives  up  its  forestry  work. 

Therefore,  as  will  be  seen  from  this  statement, 
Wisconsin  would  lose  by  abandoning  its  forestry 
work  all  donations  or  $347,538.00. 

The  total  appropriations  for  administrative  pur- 
poses have  been  $173,345.00;  the  purchases  of  forest 
reserve  lands  amounting  to  159,000  acres  at  an 
average  price  per  acre  of  $3.32  makes  a  total  of 
approximately  $528,000.00;  all  of  which  makes  a 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY  COMMITTEE  33 

total  expenditure  of  approximately  $700,000.00.  De- 
ducting therefrom  the  value  of  donations,  $347,- 
000.00,  leaves  a  total  investment  of  about  $353,- 
000.00. 

To  off-set  this  the  State  owns  327,450  acres  of 
land  and  637' islands  donated  by  the  National  Gov- 
ernment, and  in  addition,  the  value  of  all  forestry 
improvements.  Certainly,  the  investment  to  date 
has  proved  most  satisfactory. 

Since  the  large  purchases  by  the  State  during  the 
last  few  years  the  claim  has  been  made  that  a  great 
part  of  the  lands  so  acquired  for  forestry  purposes 
are  good  agricultural  lands,  some  even  placing  the 
proportion  as  high  as  seventy  or  eighty  per  cent. 
If  this  be  true,  certainly  the  investment  has  been 
a  good  one,  the  average  price  which  the  State  has 
paid  being  only  $3.32  per  acre.  It  is  well  known 
that  lands  of  agricultural  worth  cannot  be  purchased 
in  Northern  Wisconsin  at  even  double  that  figure,  so 
certainly  the  State  has  lost  nothing  on  account  of 
these  purchases,  but  must  have  made  a  good  invest- 
ment. 


34  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 


REPORT  AND    FINDINGS    OF    COMMITTEE 

Two  questions  upon  which  the  Committee  were  to 
report  to  the  1915  session  of  the  Legislature  are  pre- 
sented in  the  law  creating  it:  First,  what  areas  of 
land  now  held  as  forest  reserve  and  those  parts  pro- 
posed to  be  included  within  such  reserve  within  the 
counties  of  Forest,  Iron,  Oneida,  Price  and  Vilas 
are  better  adapted  to  agricultural  than  to  forestry 
purposes.  Second,  whether  the  best  interests  of  all 
persons  concerned,  especially  the  taxpayers  of  the 
State,  will  not  be  better  promoted  by  devoting  State 
lands  to  other  than  reforestation  purposes. 

Having  this  in  view  the  Committee  have  deemed 
it  one  of  their  duties  to  make  a  general  study  of  the 
subject  of  forestry  and  to  submit  their  views  upon 
this  subject.  To  many  this  will  seem  strange  when 
all  of  the  leading  countries  of  the  world  and  nearly 
all  of  the  older  states  of  the  Union — in  fact,  all  of 
those  in  the  northeastern  part  of  our  country — have 
been  for  many  years  and  are  now  engaged  in  the  re- 
forestation of  those  lands  located  within  their  bor- 
ders which  are  not  suited  to  agriculture.  We  cannot 
believe  it  necessary  that  the  people  of  Wisconsin  be 
shown  that  the  general  policy  or  idea  of  forestry  is 
sound  and  a  success  commercially. 

Mr.  Simon  B.  Elliott,  member  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Forestry  Reservation  Commission,  and  author 
of  "The  Important  Timber  Trees  of  the  United 
States,"  in  the  latter  work,  says:  "All  will  agree  that 
lands  suitable  for  agriculture  should  be  reserved  for 
that  purpose;  but  it  is  equally  true  that  land  not  so 
suited,  and  which  has  borne  a  crop  of  trees,  can  and 
should  once  more  be  devoted  to  that  use;  and  there 
is  a  large  area  of  that  kind  of  land  in  this  country." 

He   also   added  in   an  interview: 

"It  is  not  good  policy  to  permit  attempts  to  be 
made  to  induce  settlers,  with  a  view  to  home-mak- 
ing, to  go  on  lands  not  suited  to  agriculture.  Aside 
from  the  moral  feature  involved  there  inevitably 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE  35 

comes  failure  and  the  desertion  of  such  regions,  all 
tending  to  the  injury  and  discredit  of  the  State. 
No  State  has  ever  profited  by  attempts  to  induce 
settlers  to  go  on  land  for  the  purpose  of  home-mak- 
ing where  the  region  is  not  adapted  to  profitable 
agriculture.  To  avoid  this  the  State  would  best 
secure  such  land  and,  where  practicable,  devote  it  to 
tree  growing,  thus  converting  what  otherwise  would 
be  practically  a  barren  waste  into  a  productive  one." 

The  only  question  pertinent  to  this  matter  would 
seem  to  be  whether  any  of  the  lands  within  the  pro- 
posed forest  reserve  can  be  better  and  more  profit- 
ably used  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  of  the  State 
by  planting  to  trees  and  by  encouraging  the  growth 
of  the  natural  reproduction  thereon. 

Oftentimes  in  discussing  the  general  forestry  ques- 
tion with  the  average  citizen  he  is  prone  to  say, 
"Yes,  such  conditions  might  apply  to  Germany; 
such  conditions  might  apply  to  the  mountainous 
regions  of  Pennsylvania  or  New  York;  such  condi- 
tions might  apply  to  the  Southern  States  where  the 
growing  season  is  long;  but  in  Northern  Wisconsin  where 
the  growing  season  is  short,  the  lands  and  conditions 
are  different — forestry  cannot  be  carried  on  success- 
fully." Authorities  on  the  subject,  however,  claim 
an  entirely  different  state  of  affairs.  Wisconsin  con- 
ditions are  ideal  for  the  growing  of  trees.  We  do 
not  labor  under  the  handicap  of  the  European  for- 
ests which  have  been  restored  and  made  productive. 
And  we  have  one  great  advantage  over  them;  we 
are  not  limited  to  a  few  inferior  kinds  or  species  of 
trees.  Wisconsin  can  grow  white  and  norway  pine, 
and  these  are  recognized  as  the  most  productive  and 
most  profitable  trees  of  forest  growth. 

When  we  speak  of  reforestation  we  have  in  mind 
both  the  natural  reproduction  and  the  artificial 
planting  or  growing  of  trees.  In  the  first,  nature  is 
simply  encouraged  in  her  effort  to  re-establish  the 
native  species  of  timber.  This  is  too  well  known  to 
need  much  explanation.  By  the  establishment  of  a 
forestry  protection  system,  consisting  of  foresters, 


36  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

with  forest  rangers,  telephone  lines,  lookout*  towers, 
fire  lines  and  roads,  the  young  and  growing  timber  is 
protected  from  the  onslaughts  and  ravages  of  fire. 

By  artificial  reforestation  we  mean  the  growing  of 
the  young  trees  in  the  nurseries,  the  transplanting  of 
the  same  on  the  cut-over  lands  and  their  protection 
by  the  methods  heretofore  mentioned. 

That  artificial  reforestation  will  become  a  source  of 
profit  to  the  State  has  been  proven  beyond  doubt, 
not  only  in  such  countries  as  Germany,  the  Scandi- 
navian Peninsula,  Denmark  and  France,  but  also  by 
experimental  plantations  carried  on  in  the  United 
States.  The  Germans  claim  an  average  annual  net 
revenue  of  $3.50  per  acre  from  their  planted  forests. 
There  can  be  no  question  of  ultimate  profit  if  prop- 
erly managed  for  the  manifest  reason  that  by  the 
time  a  forest  planted  now  becomes  mature,  our 
present  naturally  grown  ones  will  have  become  so 
exhausted  that  the  market  price  of  all  forest  products 
must  be  that  of  the  cost  of  growing  trees  from  the 
seed  plus  a  fair  profit,  just  as  the  price  of  wheat, 
corn  or  any  other  product  of  the  soil  is  and  must  be 
that  of  its  cost  with  reasonable  profit  added.  De- 
mand and  supply  will  regulate  price  here  as  well  as 
elsewhere. 

The  Monaghan  plantations  near  Mount  Alto  in 
Franklin  County,  Pennsylvania,  afforded  one  of  the 
best  opportunities  for  the  Committee  to  see  results 
obtained  from  the  planting  of  white  pine.  This 
plantation  was  made  on  an  old  cultivated  field. 
The  best  results  cannot  be  obtained  from  such 
planting.  Foresters  all  agree  that  where  there  is  a 
growth  of  other  varieties  for  protection  such  as 
aspen,  pin  cherry  and  the  like,  the  pine  growth  is 
much  more  sturdy.  This  planting  was  made  in 
April,  1902,  for  experiment  only.  The  young  trees 
were  two  years  old  when  set  out,  at  a  distance  of 
four  feet.  A  photograph  taken  in  1904,  two  years 
after  planting,  shows  them  less  than  six  inches  in 
height.  A  later  photograph,  taken  in  December, 
1906,  shows  a  maximum  height  of  31.50  inches  with 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY  COMMITTEE  37 

practically  every  tree  growing.  Measurements  were 
made  in  October,  1906,  and  prior  thereto  which  show 
the  following  facts:  Number  of  trees  measured, 
3,558.  Average  growth  in  the  year  1906,  inches 
12.085;  average  growth  in  the  year  1905,  inches  6.9; 
average  growth  in  the  year  1904,  inches  5.8;  average 
total  height  year  1906,  inches  33.5. 

At  the  time  of  the  Committee's  visit  in  August, 
1914,  the  average  height  of  these  trees  was  about 
twelve  feet  and  the  highest  exceeded  fifteen  feet. 
Photographs  are  shown  herein  of  this  plantation  in 
1904,  1906,  1912  and  1914. 

While  many  other  plantings  of  white  and  norway 
pine  equally  as  promising  were  visited  by  the  Com- 
mittee, we  believe  them  to  be  the  best  illustration  of 
what  can  be  expected  along  these  lines  because  we 
were  able  to  secure  photographs  of  them  at  various 
stages  of  their  growth. 

Figures  in  the  office  of  the  State  Forester  show 
that  the  cost  of  planting  in  Wisconsin  has  averaged 
$4.98  per  acre  while  members  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Forestry  Commission  stated  that  it  had  cost  them 
about  $9  per  acre.  Wisconsin  plantings  have  been 
made  with  about  a  thousand  trees  to  the  acre  while 
the  Pennsylvania  foresters  have  used  almost  double 
this  amount.  A  further  item  of  cost  in  the  latter 
State  is  by  reason  of  the  added  expense  of  growing 
nursery  stock.  On  the  heavy  soils  where  their 
nurseries  are  located  the  planting,  care,  and  cultiva- 
tion of  the  seedlings  is  much  more  difficult  and  ex- 
pensive, and  the  setting  out  of  the  trees  in  the  for- 
ests on  the  heavier  soils  makes  necessary  a  great 
deal  more  work. 

Another  thing  of  interest  in  connection  with  this  is 
that  the  work  now  being  done  and  which  it  will  be 
possible  to  do  in  the  next  few  years  with  just  the 
two  Wisconsin  nurseries- — the  one  at  Big  Trout  Lake, 
the  other  at  Tomahawk  Lake — in  the  way  of  artifi- 
cial reforestation  is  being  paid  for  by  the  Federal 
Government  and,  therefore,  imposes  no  burden  on 
the  people  of  Wisconsin.  The  Government  in  mak- 


38  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

ing  its  grant  of  20,000  acres  provided  that  the  money 
received  from  the  sale  of  scattering  lands  or  from  the 
sale  of  timber,  or  from,  in  fact,  any  source  connected 
with  the  handling  of  the  said  gift,  could  be  used  only 
for  reforesting  the  permanent  forest  reserve — that  is, 
in  the  up-keep  of  the  nurseries  and  the  cost  of  plant- 
ing. At  the  present  time,  as  has  been  stated,  the 
nurseries  are  turning  out  approximately  one  million 
trees  per  year.  This  is  sufficient  to  plant  about  one 
thousand  acres.  At  a  cost  of  $4.98  per  acre,  which 
includes  the  cost  of  the  seed,  cost  of  raising  the 
plants,  and  cost  of  transplanting,  this  means  a  total 
expenditure  of  about  $5,000  a  year.  The  depart- 
ment now  has  on  hand  in  this  Federal  fund  over 
$16,000,  sufficient  to  carry  on  the  work  and  take  care 
of  the  out-put  from  the  nurseries  for  three  years,  and 
it  is  stated  that  by  that  time  considerably  more  than 
this  amount  will  again  be  in  their  hands.  So,  the 
cost  of  artificial  reforestation  in  Wisconsin  will  be 
borne  by  the  Federal  government  for  many  years  to 
come,  and  as  much  as  a  thousand  acres  a  year  can 
be  planted,  making  the  only  cost  of  such  work  to 
the  people  of  the  State  their  initial  investment  in 
acquiring  the  land  and  the  expense  of  fire  protection. 

Even  on  the  very  poorest  lands  in  Connecticut, 
light  sandy  soil  which  has  been  farmed  for  genera- 
tions, both  the  white  and  norway  pine  plantings  were 
doing  well.  This  was  true  everywhere,  even  on  the 
very  poorest  soils,  and  from  their  observations  the 
Committee  is  well  satisfied  that  there  is  no  reason 
for  attempting  to  plant  scotch  or  western  yellow  pine 
any  more  than  for  experimentation  on  the  lands  in 
the  forest  reserve.  White  and  norway  pine  will 
grow  on  any  of  it. 

In  the  cut-over  territory  in  the  forest  reserve 
quicker  and  cheaper  results  can  be  had  by  the  en- 
couragement of  natural  second  growth.  By  the  arti- 
ficial planting  under  the  improved  methods  of  to- 
day no  inconsiderable  areas  can  be  replanted  with 
white  and  norway  pine  which  in  the  end  will  be 
profitable  to  the  people  of  the  State  and  serve  as 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE  39 

an  encouragement  to  the  owners  of  private  lands 
and  educate  them  so  that  they  will  become  inter- 
ested in  the  replanting  of  their  lands.  In  the  East- 
ern States  the  demand  is  already  taking  the  output 
of  the  State  nurseries,  and  in  New  York  the  Fores- 
try Department  complain  because  they  have  too 
little  left  for  the  replanting  of  their  own  lands. 
Millions  of  small  trees  are  now  being  purchased 
from  their  nurseries  and  planted  upon  private  es- 
tates. From  1908  to  1913  their  total  sales  aggre- 
gated 12,014,635  trees,  sufficient  to  reforest  approxi- 
mately 12,000  acres. 

This  work  is  only  in  its  infancy.  Each  year  as 
the  people  become  educated  as  to  the  returns  which 
may  be  expected  from  such  work  the  demand  will 
increase  and  it  will  require  hundreds  of  acres  of 
nursery  beds  to  keep  up  with  the  advancement. 

Already  demands  have  been  made  upon  the 
Wisconsin  Forestry  Board  for  nursery  stock.  The 
Dupont  Powder  Co.,  operating  in  Bayfield  county, 
attempted  to  procure  white  and  norway  transplants 
for  the  replanting  of  their  cut-over  lands.  On  account 
of  our  output  of  only  one  million  trees  for  1914  and 
by  reason  of  the  necessity  for  planting  State  hold- 
ings, this  request  was  refused. 

There  is  no  intention  on  the  part  of  the  State 
Board  of  Forestry  of  Wisconsin,  or,  in  fact,  of  the 
Forestry  Departments  of  any  of  the  States,  to  enter 
into  competition  with  commercial  nurseries.  At 
the  present  time,  however,  these  nurseries  have  been 
unable  to  supply  the  millions  of  trees  required  for 
private  planting,  but  as  soon  as  they  are  able  to 
do  so  and  furnish  the  stock  at  a  reasonable  price, 
the  States  will  be  glad  enough  to  retire  from  this  side 
of  the  work  and  devote  their  planting  stock  to 
reforesting  State  lands.  The  commercial  nurseries 
up  to  date  have  only  been  able  to  keep  up  with 
the  demand  for  the  ornamental  stock,  whereas  in 
Germany  they  can  supply  planting  stock  by  the 
tens  of  millions.  It  will  only  be  a  few  years  when 
private  individuals  in  Wisconsin  will  take  up  this 


40  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY  COMMITTEE 

work  and  many  thousands  of  acres  of  our  cut-over 
lands,  unprofitable  for  agriculture,  will  be  devoted 
to  the  growth  of  pine.  Nothing  will  so  stimulate 
and  encourage  this  interprise  as  the  example  the 
State  Forestry  Board  expects  to  set  forth  in  plant- 
ing State  lands.  In  the  last  few  years  a  number 
of  private  owners  have  expressed  a  desire  to  reforest 
their  lands — large  holders  who  have  waited  until 
the  soil  survey  of  their  district  was  completed,  so 
they  would  know  upon  expert  advice  which  lands 
were  non-agricultural. 

In  a  way,  the  task  given  this  Committee  to  de- 
cide which  of  these  lands  are  best  adapted  to  agri- 
cultural use  is  an  impossible  one.  The  only  way 
this  can  be  determined  in  detail  is  by  a  soil  survey 
and  a  thorough  cruising  of  these  lands,  forty  by 
forty,  by  competent  judges  of  farm  lands.  This 
would  demand  many  months  of  hard  labor  and  could 
not  be  undertaken  by  the  members  of  this  Com- 
mittee. All  we  could  do  was  to  visit  as  much  of 
the  territory  as  possible,  getting  a  general  idea  as 
to  whether  any  of  the  lands  were  unfit  for  farming 
and  whether  the  agricultural  development  of  Wis- 
consin might  be  hindered  by  the  taking  of  some  of 
these  lands  from  the  market  and  by  their  use  for 
reforestation  purposes. 

The  question  as  to  just  what  lands  are  available 
for  reforestation  is  a  debatable  one.  It  is  hard  in 
this  day  and  age  to  specify  what  are  agricultural 
and  what  are  non-agricultural  lands.  In  the  wild 
unsettled  areas  of  Northern  Wisconsin  one  is  liable 
to  be  greatly  deceived,  and  while  at  this  time  he 
might  say  that  some  of  the  lands  were  non-agri- 
cultural, or  might  better  say  not  profitable  from  an 
agricultural  standpoint,  a  few  years  may  work  a 
mighty  change — a  wonderful  change — and  the  demand 
be  such  that  practically  all  of  these  lands  would 
be  required  for  agricultural  purposes. 

Nevertheless,  the  lesson  as  learned  in  some  of 
our  sister  States  of  the  East  may  be  a  guide  to  us 
in  this.  In  the  Blue  Mountains  of  Potter  County, 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE  41 

Pennsylvania,  Wisconsin's .  famous  violinist,  Ole 
Bull,  conceived  the  idea  of  establishing  a  colony 
of  Norwegian  immigrants.  He  attempted  to  pur- 
chase several  thousand  acres,  went  so  far  as  to  build 
himself  a  castle,  and  many  of  the  families  moved 
upon  the  land  with  the  intention  of  carving  out 
farmhomes.  True,  on  account  of  a  defect  in  title  he 
became  discouraged  and  gave  up  the  idea.  But 
now,  after  fifty-two  years,  these  lands  are  still 
unoccupied  and  vacant  with  no  prospect  whatever 
of  their  ever  being  used  for  farming.  The  soil  in 
the  valleys  is  a  rich  red  and  yellow  shale;  the  cli- 
mate much  the  same  as  in  the  Northern  part  of 
Wisconsin,  and  still,  in  thickly  settled  Pennsyl- 
vania this  land  is  really  of  less  value  and  can  be 
purchased  at  a  lower  price  than  some  of  the  poorest 
cut-over  lands  in  our  State. 

During  the  last  half  dozen  years  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania  has  started  a  forest  reserve  in  this 
county,  bought  up  these  lands  at  prices  under  $5 
per  acre  and  is  now  replanting  them.  While  this 
is  a  mountainous  region,  there  is  much  of  the  land 
in  the  broad  valleys  which  could  be  profitably  used 
for  farming  if  there  was  a  demand  for  it.  It  has 
stood  for  many  years  since  the  removal  of  the  tim- 
ber, blackened  and  barren.  Now,  by  artificial 
planting  and  the  protection  of  the  natural  growth 
Pennsylvania  expects  to  make  it  bear  •  timber  with 
profit  to  the  commonwealth. 

The  soil  in  this  county  is  heavier  than  anything 
in  our  proposed  forest  reserve,  and  by  reason  of 
that  they  cannot  expect  as  good  results  from  the 
natural  second  growth  of  pine.  On  account  of  the 
heavy  nature  of  the  soil  the  pine  seed  has  no  op- 
portunity to  germinate  and  the  hardwoods  get  such 
a  start  that  only  in  a  few  places  is  there  any  show- 
ing of  pine  whatsoever. 

This  condition  does  not  apply  in  Warren  county, 
New  York.  In  the  territory  adjacent  to  Chester- 
town  where  the  soil  is  of  a  light  sandy  character, 
which  soil  largely  predominates  in  all  parts  of  the 


42  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

Adirondack  Forest  Reserve,  the  natural  reprodcu- 
tion  of  white  pine  is  wonderful.  Here  vast  areas 
have  reforested  themselves  with  as  fine  a  growth 
as  ever  stood  on  these  lands. 

If  Wisconsin  is  to  continue  its  Forestry  work  and 
have  a  forest  reserve,  the  question  of  its  location 
is  first  to  be  considered.  There  are  millions  of 
acres  of  undeveloped  land  in  Northern  Wisconsin. 
Just  what  percentage  of  these  will  ultimately  be 
used  for  agricultural  purposes  cannot  at  this  time 
be  determined.  Many  things  must  be  taken  into 
consideration  in  determining  this.  Even  the  very 
poorest  of  lands  if  located  adjacent  to  good  tillable 
soil  can  be  profitably  used  for  grazing  and  pastur- 
age, but  where  there  are  large  areas  of  poor  or  un- 
profitable agricultural  lands  it  would  seem  that  these 
might  best  be  used  for  forestry. 

In  the  lands  held  by  the  State  there  are,  of  course, 
some  good  agricultural  lands.  Generally  speaking, 
however,  the  average  State  holding  does  not  com- 
pare favorably  with  the  land  that  is  held  by  specu- 
lators or  by  those  who  are  engaged  in  farming.  In- 
variably, in  their  investigations,  the  members  of 
the  Committee  found  the  State  lands  about  the 
poorest  in  the  locality  inspected.  We  believe  the 
report  of  the  soils  survey  now  being  made  will  bear 
out  the  opinion  of  the  Committee  in  this  regard. 
The  Forestry  Department  has  refused  to  make  a  num- 
ber of  purchases  by  reason  of  the  agricultural  value 
of  the  lands.  In  fact,  they  have  had  several  farms 
offered  at  very  low  prices.  So  it  is  not  altogether 
an  accident  that  the  State  owns  the  poorer  lands. 
Naturally,  the  better  lands  have  gone  into  the  hands 
of  the  actual  settler  more  rapidly  and  the  owners 
have  not  been  so  anxious  to  dispose  of  them  at 
low  prices. 

The  eye  of  the  State  and  Nation  for  many  years 
has  been  turned  to  that  area  in  the  Northeastern 
part  of  the  State  situated  in  the  counties  of  Forest, 
Iron,  Price,  Oneida  and  Vilas,  having  in  view  its 
adaptation  to  forestry  purposes.  All  the  State 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE  43 

and  National  soil  surveys  for  many  years  have 
shown  a  considerable  area  of  light  sandy  soil  of 
inferior  agricultural  quality  in  this  district.  While 
there  are  other  places  in  Wisconsin  with  soil  of  this 
nature  which  could,  no  doubt,  be  better  used  for 
forestry  than  for  farming,  if  we  are  to  have  a  forest 
reserve  at  all  the  selection  in  a  general  way  has 
been  well  made. 

There  is  no  section  of  the  state  where  so  large 
an  area  of  sparsely  settled  lands  can  be  found. 
The  State  Forester's  records  show  that  in  a  district 
equal  to  twenty-two  townships  within  the  reserve,  an 
area  of  five  hundred  square  miles,  there  are  now 
but  twenty-one  farmer  settlers.  And  this  report 
from  the  office  of  the  State  Forester  the  Committee 
found  upon  investigation  to  be  true;  that  while 
there  were  other  people  living  within  this  district, 
they  were  either  resorters,  shackers,  or  trappers — 
at  least,  not  making  their  living  at  farming. 

Certain  it  is,  that  in  carrying  on  the  work  of 
reforestation  by  the  encouragement  and  protection 
of  the  natural  second  growth,  in  order  to  make  it 
profitable  the  land  must  be  held  in  considerable 
areas  by  reason  of  the  expense  of  maintaining  the 
roads,  fire  lines,  telephone  system,  and  other  things 
necessary  to  the  conduct  of  the  work.  Still,  if  the 
poorer  lands  in  some  of  the  better  settled  portions 
which  are  surrounded  by  farms  and  improved  lands 
could  be  used  for  this  purpose,  the  aid  of  the  set- 
tler in  keeping  back  the  fires  and  protecting  the  tim- 
ber would  be  of  no  little  help.  For  that  reason  it 
would  seem  that  the  poorer  lands  in  all  parts  of 
Wisconsin  which  will  grow  white  and  norway  pine 
should  be  acquired  for  this  purpose  and  every  effort 
made  to  have  them  replanted  to  trees,  whether  in 
the  hands  of  the  State  or  of  private  owners. 

Future  commercial  interests  of  the  State  may  de- 
mand its  extension  into  other  sections. 

While  climatic  conditions  may  be  discouraging  to 
settlement — a  hindrance  in  growing  certain  crops — 
we  do  not  consider  them  germane  to  the  question 


44  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

here  submitted.  On  the  better  lands  of  this  terri- 
tory farming  can  be  engaged  in  with  profit  so  that 
such  conditions  simply  limit  the  field  of  operation 
and  confine  the  farmer  to  the  growth  of  particular 
crops,  yet  with  the  opportunity  for  fairly  good  re- 
turns. 

In  their  investigation  the  Committee  saw  many 
different  kinds  of  land;  some  of  the  very  lightest 
sand;  some  sandy  loam;  and  some  clay  loam. 
They  also  found  large  areas  which  were  very  rough, 
covered  with  gravel,  stone  and  huge  boulders,  yet 
anyone  who  would  condemn  all  the  lands  in  the  pro- 
posed forest  reserve  by  reason  of  these  observations 
would  be  unfair  to  this  section  of  the  State.  Never- 
theless, there  are  large  areas- — in  fact,  a  major  por- 
tion of  the  lands  which  the  Committee  have  had 
an  opportunity  to  investigate — which  they  believe 
to  be  better  adapted  to  forestry  than  to  farming. 
Most  of  these  lands  will  not  be  called  into  use  by 
tillers  of  the  soil  for  many  years  to  come. 

There  can  be  no  good  reason  why,  if  these  lands 
are  used  by  the  Forestry  Department,  it  will  in 
any  way  interfere  with  the  agricultural  development 
of  Northern  Wisconsin.  Neither  is  there  any  reason 
why  the  settlement  of  the  good  agricultural  lands 
should  interfere  with  the  forestry  policy.  There 
is  ample  room  for  both,  and  the  development  of 
the  one  should  but  assist  in  the  development  of 
the  other.  Wherever  forestry  is  being  carried  on, 
in  other  States  or  in  other  countries,  it  is  conducted 
hand  in  hand  with  the  agricultural  advancement. 
The  farmers  of  Pennsylvania  are  ardent  supporters 
of  the  Forestry  Commission. 

There  should  be  no  dispute  between  those  inter- 
ested in  the  general  welfare  of  Northern  Wisconsin, 
whether  interested  in  making  it  a  rich  agricultural 
region  or  interested  in  the  reforesation  of  its  poorer 
soils  and  rough  lands  such  as  cannot  be  profitably 
used  for  farming.  Agricultural  writers,  even  those 
who  are  interested  in  the  agricultural  development 
say  that  twenty-fiv^  per  cent  of  all  the  lands  in 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY  COMMITTEE  45 

the  Northern  half  of  the  State  are  unsuitable  for 
the  growing  of  crops.  If  there  are,  as  is  said, 
13,000,000  acres  in  the  Northern  part  of  the  State 
still  undeveloped,  and  twenty-five  per  cent  .of  it 
is  non-agricultural,  then  we  have  three  and  one 
quarter  millions  of  acres  upon  part  of  which,  at 
least,  the  State  can  conduct  this  work. 

Large  areas  are  covered  with  swamp,  some  of 
which  cannot  even  be  used  for  tree  planting,  while 
others  naturally  reproduce  themselves  with  such 
species  as  tamarack  and  spruce.  Certainly  so  large 
an  area  as  this  should  satisfy  the  most  ardent  ad- 
vocate of  silva-culture,  yet  it  shows  that  a  few 
hundred  thousands  of  acres  devoted  thereto  will 
create  no  dearth  of  lands  left  to  farm. 

Why  anyone  should  feel  that  the  statement  that 
twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  lands  of  any  section  of 
the  State  are  non-profitable  for  agriculture  is  detri- 
mental to  its  best  interests  is  inconceivable.  We  have 
but  to  turn  to  Germany  with  her  208,000  square 
miles  to  find  that  54,000,  an  amount  equal  to  al- 
most the  total  area  of  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  is 
in  forests.  Certainly  in  a  country  which  has  been 
developed  to  almost  the  last  degree,  the  fact  that 
one-fourth  of  its  area  is  in  forests  does  not  detract 
from  its  standing  as  a  nation  and  an  example  to 
others  in  intense  development. 

There  are  thousands  of  acres  of  land  in  Northern 
Wisconsin  which,  on  account  of  the  poor  character 
of  the  soil  and  its  rough  nature,  will  not  be  used 
for  farming  either  in  this  generation  or  several  to 
come.  This  can  be  said  without  detracting  from  the 
agricultural  possibilities  of  the  section  in  which 
they  are  located. 

There  is  no  section  in  the  State  where  an  attempt 
at  reforestation  can  show  as  rapid  results  and  quick 
illustration  of  its  possibilities  as  the  beautiful  lake 
region  of  Northeastern  Wisconsin.  Most  of  the  soil 
is  of  a  light  sandy  nature.  On  this  a  rapid  natural 
reproduction  may  be  expected.  There  are  now  large 
areas  where  beautiful  young  growths  of  white  and 


46  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

norway  pine  are  springing  up.  If  these  can  be  kept 
free  from  fire  and  protected  from  the  other  natural 
ravages  of  the  elements  it  will  not  be  many  years 
before  the  covetous  eye  of  the  woodsman  will 
again  turn  to  this  district.  It  is  well  known  that 
in  a  few  years  these  little  stands  of  natural  repro- 
duction will  reseed  the  other  areas.  This  is  especi- 
ally true  on  the  light  sandy  soils  where  the  white 
and  norway  pine  seed  have  such  a  splendid  oppor- 
tunity to  germinate.  Where  some  of  the  smaller 
pine  were  left  by  the  loggers,  they  have  scattered 
seed  over  large  areas.  Where  fire  has  not  reached 
some  of  the  growths  are  beautiful.  A  few  years  of 
fire  protection  and  the  results  will  be  worth  while. 
In  addition,  too,  this  territory  was  logged  by  rail. 
Miles  and  miles  of  railroad  grade  have  been  con- 
structed through  the  territory.  These  can  be  quickly 
converted  into  most  excellent  roads  and  fire  lines. 
There  is  no  place  where  a  cheaper  system  of  fire 
protection  can  be  inaugurated. 

Furthermore  by  reason  of  the  hundreds  of  lakes 
the  opportunity  for  the  construction  of  fire  lines 
between  them,  a  most  unusual  opportunity  is  afforded 
in  the  blocking  out  of  forest  areas  and  the  confining 
of  fires  to  limited  districts. 

The  system  of  protection  from  forest  fires  in  Wis- 
consin is  not  new  or  untried.  The  methods  are  those 
found  to  be  most  effective  by  National  and  State 
organizations.  The  Western  Forestry  Conserva- 
tion Association,  the  States  of  New  York,  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Minnesota,  and  the  National  government 
protect  their  standing  timber  by  the  same  methods. 
It  has  proven  successful  and  is  in  operation  by 
many  private  associations  holding  timber  land. 
Wisconsin's  system  was  established  in  1911  and  no 
areas  of  any  extent  in  the  district  covered  have  been 
burned.  The  largest  area  under  immediate  super- 
vision and  protection  which  has  been  burned  over 
since  this  system  of  protection  was  inaugurated 
does  not  exceed  ten  acres. 

The  forestry  holdings  now  consist  of  327,450  acres 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY  C 


to  which  should  be  added,  however,  the  acreage  of 
637  islands  donated  by  the  National  government 
on  which  surveys  have  not  been  fully  completed. 
The  holdings  in  the  proposed  permanent  reserve 
are  as  follows: 

Forest  County 24,281 

Iron   County.. 27,102 

Oneida  County 48,488 

Price   County 5,657 

Vilas  County 128,010 

Making  a  total  within  the  proposed  forest  reserve 
of  186,537  acres  exclusive  of  the  islands.  In  addi- 
tion to  this  there  are  5,086  acres  in  the  Brule  River 
Reserve  and  47,003  acres  of  Indian  Reservation  lands, 
which  make  a  total  of  238,627  acres  of  lands 
which  the  Forestry  Board  now  propose  to  hold  for 
permanent  forestry  purposes.  That  is,  these  lands 
are  located  within  the  area  where  the  future  work 
is  proposed  to  be  conducted. 

Whatever  of  these  lands  may  be  of  agricultural 
value  lying  in  sufficient  tracts  to  warrant  settle- 
ment will  be  placed  upon  the  market  for  sale  to 
actual  settlers. 

If  it  were  certain  that  the  holdings  outside  of 
the  State  lands  were  to  be  used  by  actual  settlers, 
the  whole  problem  would  be  easy  of  solution.  There 
would  be  no  real  reason  for  blocking  up  State  lands. 
There  would  be  no  danger  from  fire — in  fact,  the 
settlers  would  assist  in  protecting  the  timber  growth. 

The  great  danger  lies  in  the  large  private  holdings 
of  unimproved  lands  which  are  not  protected  and 
where  the  opportunity  is  given  for  fires  to  originate 
by  the  lack  of  an  adequate  protective  system. 

The  State  owns  88,822.49  acres  of  land  in  the 
following  counties  outside  of  the  proposed  permanent 
forest  reserve  area.  The  holding  in  each  county  is 
herewith  given. 


48  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

Acres 

Ashland .   3,966.20 

Bayfield___  1,188.60 

burnett .   3,649.21 

Douglas 1,797.25 

Florence___.  .   3,639.16 

Forest .11,460.60 

Iron 1,639.07 

Langlade_.  1,058.42 

Lincoln 1,041.32 

Marinette-  4,494.21 

Oneida_.  _23,173.38. 

Polk_.  846.40 

Price -12,450.51 

Rusk_ .   2,215.87 

Sawyer-.  _11,213.22 

Vilas__  .   2,360.84 

Washburn-.  .   2,628.23 


TOTAL  ___  _88,822.49 

These  lands  are  scattering,  some  of  them,  of  agri- 
cultural value,  and  so  located  that  it  is  recommended 
that  they  be  sold  and  the  proceeds  applied  to  the 
purchase  of  lands  in  the  proposed  permanent  reserve. 

The  first  work  should   be  confined  to  this   district. 

No  matter  where  the  forest  reserve  is  located,  the 
same  cry  of  opposition  would  go  up.  The  question 
is,  "Are  we  to  have  a  forest  reserve  at  all?"  If  so, 
it  must  be  somewhere.  And  no  tract  can  be  found 
that  is  more  suitable  than  the  one  selected. 

There  should  be  no  misunderstanding,  however. 
There  is  no  intention  when  we  say  that  the  present 
work  should  be  confined  to  this  proposed  area,  to 
take  all  of  the  lands  therein.  Every  safeguard 
should  be  provided  so  that  the  agricultural  lands 
shall  be  devoted  to  that  use  and  only  those  unprofi- 
table for  farming  used  for  forestry.  The  intention 
is  simply  to  limit  the  field  of  operation  for  the  reason 
that  quicker  and  better  results  will  follow,  there 
being  no  desire  to  acquire  lands  of  even  possible 
agricultural  worth. 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE  49 

The  plan  has  been  proposed  that  the  State  have 
small  forest  reserves  in  several  counties.  This  plan 
would  not  be  practicable.  Supervision  would  be 
expensive;  fire  protection  would  be  expensive;  and 
either  more  nurseries  would  have  to  be  established, 
the  expense  of  maintaining  them  being  correspond- 
ingly greater,  or  plants  would  have  to  be  transported 
and  planting  crews  moved  from  point  to  point.  The 
whole  expense  would  be  increased,  and  the  main 
object  of  forest  reserves  would  be  defeated  if  they 
were  not  located  on  the  headwaters  of  the  important 
rivers. 

The  present  holdings  are  ample  upon  which  to 
demonstrate  what  Wisconsin  can  accomplish  in  this 
work.  The  claim  is  made  that  if  these  lands  are  not 
fit  for  agricultural  purposes  the  State  cannot  lose  by 
reason  of  delaying  their  purchase;  that  certainly  they 
will  not  increase  in  value  unless  they  have  some 
agricultural  worth.  This  however,  is  not  true.  This 
beautiful  lake  region  is  bound  to  become  the  mecca 
for  sportsmen,  health  seekers  and  resorters.  The 
lake  frontages  are  now  eagerly  sought,  and  much  of 
the  opposition  to  the  present  forestry  policy  is  occas- 
ioned by  the  demand  for  sites  upon  these  beautiful 
bodies  of  water.  This  alone  is  bound  to  increase  the 
value  of  these  lands. 

Another  thing  that  will  add  to  their  value  is  the 
growth  of  timber  upon  them.  While  the  modern 
lumberman  scoffs  at  the  idea  that  there  is  any  value 
in  the  timber  that  has  been  left,  it  will  only  take  a 
few  years  to  demonstrate  otherwise.  Looking  back 
over  the  last  few  years  of  lumbering  one  finds  that 
species  of  timber  considered  practically  valueless 
twenty-five  years  ago  are  now  in  great  demand  and 
that  prices  for  the  so-called  inferior  grades  of  all 
timber  have  increased  while  the  better  grades  have 
no  more  than  held  their  own.  The  demand  for  pulp- 
wood,  ties  and  other  products  of  a  like  nature  will 
make  all  of  the  growing  timber  in  this  district  of 
inestimable  value;  so  that  the  Forestry  Board's 
opportunity  for  purchasing  lands  is  now  at  its  very 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY  COMMITTEE 

best.  It  would  be  a  mistake,  however,  to  attempt  to 
carry  on  this  work  over  too  large  an  area  with  the 
funds  at  hand.  The  next  few  years  will  demonstrate 
its  practicability.  Then  the  people  of  Wisconsin  will 
willingly  contribute  more  money  toward  the  purchase 
of  lands  and  more  towards  the  protection  and  plant- 
ing of  trees. 

The  claim  is  oftentimes  made  that  it  is  too  late 
to  start  forestry  in  Wisconsin;  that  this  work  should 
have  been  done  while  the  State  still  owned  or  could 
have  purchased  some  of  the  virgin  and  growing 
timber.  An  investigation  will  prove  that  this  is 
not  true,  that  wherever  forestry  is  being  carried  on 
it  consists  in  the  protection  of  the  natural  repro- 
duction of  timber  and  of  artificial  planting.  An 
exception  to  this,  however,  is  in  the  work  being 
conducted  by  the  National  government  where  the 
field  of  operation  is  confined  to  large  holdings  of 
virgin  timber.  In  all  of  our  Eastern  States  and  in 
the  foreign  countries  this  is  not  the  case. 

The  State  is  the  owner  within  the  proposed 
permanent  forest  reserve  of  approximately  50,000 
acres  of  virgin  timber.  None  of  this  timber  should 
be  sold  unless  mature  or  there  is  real  demand  for 
the  land  for  agricultural  purposes.  The  State  has 
some  large  bodies  of  timber  in  Forest  County  near 
the  railroad.  If  these,  are  offered  for  sale  it  should 
only  be  in  such  a  way  as  will  secure  the  agricultural 
development  of  the  land  itself. 

Twenty  years  ago  lumbermen  made  a  successful 
plea  to  have  the  State  Park  lands  in  Iron  and  Vilas 
Counties  put  on  the  market  so  that  the  lands  could 
be  put  on  the  tax  roll  and  the  country  would  de- 
velop. The  lands  were  offered  for  sale,  the  lumber- 
men getting  the  timber,  but  the  country  did  not 
profit  thereby  in  the  way  of  development. 

In  the  light  of  history  and  experience  we  believe 
these  timberlands  should  be  conserved. 

The  more  recent  investigations  tend  to  substan- 
tiate the  claim  that  in  order  to  secure  a  uniform 
stream  flow  and  the  best  results  from  our  vast 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY  COMMITTEE  51 

waterpowers,  the  headwaters  of  our  rivers  should  be 
protected  with  a  forest  growth.  The  following  ex- 
tract from  Page  30  of  the  report  of  the  "U.  S.  Geo- 
logical Survey,  No.  13,"  by  Hon.  George  Otis  Smith, 
Director,  shows  the  result  of  recent  investigation: 
"The  results  of  the  Burnt  Brook-Shoal  Pond  Brook 
studies  are  held  to  show  that  throughout  the  White 
Mountains  the  removal  of  forest  growth  must  be 
expected  to  decrease  the  natural  steadiness  of  de- 
pendent streams  during  the  spring  months  at  least. 
The  foregoing  conclusion  forms  a  strong  basis  for 
arguing  the  desirability  of  painstaking  methods  of 
administration  in  respect  to  forest  lands  in  the 
White  Mountain  region.  Deforestation  followed  by 
fires  as  in  the  Burnt  Brook  basin  results  in  condi- 
tions unfavorable  to  natural  spring  storage  because 
conducive  to  rapid  snow  melting  and  stream  run-off. 
Control  of  White  Mountain  lands  that  would  reduce 
fires  to  a  minimum  and  promote  normal  refore- 
station must  result  in  a  great  inprovement  over 
present  tendencies  and  this  improvement  in  forest 
cover  can  logically  be  expected  to  favorably  affect 
stream  regulation  to  the  extent  quantitatively  indi- 
cated in  the  comparison  of  the  forested  Shoal  Pond 
Brook  with  the  deforested  Burnt  Brook." 

In  the  mountainous  countries  of  Europe  some 
governments  do  not  allow  private  land  owners  to 
cut  timber  on  watersheds,  except  under  strict  regu- 
lations, and  the  land  must  be  reforested  within  a 
prescribed  period. 

Under  the  Weeks  law  which  provided  for  the 
purchase  of  the  Appalachian-White  Mountain  forest 
reserve,  no  lands  can  be  purchased  until  the  U.  S. 
Geological  Survey  has  certified  that  the  presence  of 
forests  upon  such  lands  will  affect  the  stream  flow. 
The  Geological  Survey  made  a  careful  examination 
of  two  areas  in  the  White  mountains  and  compared 
conditions  where  there  was  forest  cover  and  where 
the  forest  had  been  removed.  They  found  that  on 
the  cut-over  areas  the  snow  began  to  disappear  in 
patches,  first  from  the  lower  elevation  and  then 


52  REPORT   OF   SPECIAL   FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

extending  back  to  the  drainage  lines.  In  the  forest, 
however,  the  disappearance  of  the  snow  was  uniform 
and,  with  the  exception  of  small  cut-over  or  exposed 
areas,  the  depth  remained  quite  uniform.  In  a 
report  of  the  examination,  it  is  stated  that  it  "es- 
tablishes the  general  conclusion  that  a  direct  rela- 
tion exists  between  forest  cover  and  stream  regula- 
tion. The  results.  .  .  are  held  to  show  that  through- 
out the  White  mountains  the  removal  of  forest 
growth  must  .  be  expected  to  decrease  the  natural 
steadiness  of  dependent  streams  during  the  spring 
months  at  least  .  .  .  Deforestation  followed  by  fires 
.  .  .  results  in  conditions  unfavorable  to  natural 
spring  -  storage  because  conducive  to  rapid  snow 
melting  and  stream  run-off." 

The  securing  of  conditions  favorable  to  uniform 
stream  flow  is  of  the  highest  importance  in  Wis- 
consin because  this  state  has  so  many  rivers  and  so 
much  water  power.  The  state  has  no  coal,  and 
its  water  powers  are  the  great  source  of  energy  for 
manufacturing,  heating,  lighting  and  transporting. 
The  highest  usefulness  of  the  water  powers  is  de- 
pendent on  regularity  of  stream  flow.  Floods  in 
the  spring  and  low  w^ater  in  the  summer  and  fall 
are  injurious.  Reforestation  on  the  headwaters  of 
the  rivers  and  the  storage  of  excess  water  in  natural 
and  artificial  reservoirs  will  result  in  great  benefits 
to  the  public. 

It  has  been  claimed  by  the  opponents  of  forestry 
that,  because  the  forest  reserve  in  Wisconsin  was  in 
a  comparatively  -level  country,  the  effects  of  de- 
forestation would  not  be  as  serious  as  in  a  mountain- 
ous country.  This  is  unquestionably  true  as  far  as 
erosion  is  concerned,  but  the  rapidity  with  which 
snow  will  melt  on  cut-over  lands  is  the  same,  and 
this  is  the  chief  point  to  be  considered  in  protecting 
the  headwaters  of  our  rivers  in  Wisconsin. 

This  is  but  another  reason  for  the  retention  of  the 
present  State  forest  lands.  They  are  located  at  the 
headwaters  of  our  most  important  rivers.  Wiscon- 
sin, in  addition  to  the  recognized  reasons  for  main- 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE  53 

taining  a  forest  reserve,  namely,  to  secure  a  future 
supply  of  timber  and  regulate  the  flow  of  streams, 
has  a  beautiful  natural  lake  and  park  region,  already 
patronized  by  thousands  of  people,  to  preserve  for 
posterity. 

We  recommend  the  retention  by  the  State  of  its 
holdings  in  the  proposed  forest  reserve  area;  and 
further  recommend  the  sale  of  all  scattering  holdings 
outside  thereof.  We  consider  it  advisable  that  future 
purchases  be  limited  to  the  said  area  and  as  nearly  as 
possible  to  lands  not  now  suited  to  agriculture.  Upon 
the  sale  of  the  good  agricultural  lands  the  money 
should  be  reinvested  in  non-agricultural  lands. 

In  acquiring  lands  in  the  future,  which  must  be 
bought  in  large  tracts  in  order  to  get  them  at  a 
low  price,  the  Forestry  Board  will  obtain  many 
acres  of  good  farm  lands.  This  cannot  work  harm 
in  the  settlement  of  the  community  if  a  proper 
method  of  disposing  of  them  to  actual  settlers  shall 
be  found.  In  fact,  one  of  the  great  hindrances  to 
the  settlement  of  all  of  Northern  Wisconsin  is  the 
high  price  and  hard  conditions  under  which  the 
actual  settler  purchases.  Some  plan  must  be  de- 
vised by  which  these  agricultural  lands  can  be 
placed  upon  the  market  in  such  a  way  that  the 
actual  settler  may  be  able  to  secure  them  at  some- 
where near  the  price  now  paid  by  the  State.  That 
settlers  should  be  obliged  to  pay  ten  and  fifteen 
dollars  when  lands  equally  as  good  can  be  purchased 
by  the  State  in  large  tracts  at  as  low  an  average  as 
$3.32  an  acre  is  unreasonable.  If  farmers  in  some 
of  our  older  communities  could  buy  farm  lands  in 
Northern  Wisconsin  for  $4  an  acre  on  long-time 
payments  at  a  low7  rate  of  interest  the  increase  in 
settlement  would  be  manyfold.  Some  limitation, 
however,  must  be  put  upon  the  sales  to  be  made 
by  the  State  Board  of  Forestry  and  such  conditions 
annexed  that  only  the  actual  settler  can  buy  these 
lands;  otherwise,  they  will  simply  get  back  into  the 
hands  of  speculators  and  the  price  will  be  the  same 
as  for  which  other  lands  are  now  held. 


54  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

It  is  admitted  that  the  development  of  Northern 
Wisconsin  should  be  stimulated  and  every  effort 
made  to  encourage  settlement.  It  takes  persistent 
advertising  and  a  large  amount  of  money  and  work 
to  accomplish  this.  A  feasible  plan  would  be  for 
the  Forestry  Board  working  in  cooperation  with  the 
soil  survey  to  release  lands  of  agricultural  value 
which  are  in  sufficiently  large  tracts  so  that  a  com- 
munity can  be  established  and  to  place  these  upon 
the  market  for  sale  to  actual  settlers.  Then  the 
Forestry  Board  should  list  all  such  tracts  with  the 
State  Board  of  Immigration  or  some  like  organiza- 
tion so  that  they  could  advise  prospective  settlers 
of  these  tracts  of  agricultural  lands.  The  forestry 
policy  to  date  has  not  hindered  this  development 
by  taking  lands  from  the  market.  Of  400  acres  of 
the  best  lands  held  by  the  State  in  Oneida  County 
and  offered  for  sale  since  September,  1912,  at  from 
$8.00  to  $10.00  per  acre,  none  have  been  purchased. 
This  price  was  fixed  upon  these  lands  for  the  reason 
that  it  was  believed  to  be  about  their  actual  cash 
value.  It  could  not  be  expected  that  the  State 
should  pick  from  all  of  its  lands  these  few  hundred 
acres  classed  as  agricultural  and  offer  them  at  as 
low  a  price  as  the  average  price  paid  in  all  of  their 
purchases. 

In  order  that  the  development  of  Northern  Wis- 
consin be  not  interfered  with  we  suggest  and  will 
later  offer  to  the  Legislature  a  bill  which  provides 
for  the  sale  of  all  agricultural  lands  where  located  in 
sufficiently  large  tracts  in  the  forest  reserve;  these 
lands  to  be  sold  to  actual  settlers  in  amounts  not 
to  exceed  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  upon  prac- 
tically the  same  terms  as  those  now  offered  and 
available  under  the  United  States  Homestead  Law. 
Such  a  price  as  will  attract  settlers  to  purchase 
these  lands  should  be  fixed  and  every  effort  made 
to  get  them  into  the  hands  of  farmers.  This  should 
not  be  done  unless  a  settlement  large  enough  to 
support  a  school  district  and  carry  on  its  own  affairs 
may  be  expected.  Where  there  are  tracts  of  1,000 


'    REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY  COMMITTEE  55 

acres  or  more  of  good  farm  lands  which  will  accom- 
modate twelve  families  and  upwards,  they  might 
well  be  opened  to  settlement.  Where  communities 
already  exist  smaller  areas  within  a  reasonable  dis- 
tance of  any  of  them '  should  be  offered  for  sale  by 
the  State.  Then  the  danger  of  isolating  settlers 
would  be  avoided  and  they  would  not  be  deprived 
of  the  advantages  of  community  life,  schools,  roads, 
churches,  accessible  markets,  etc.  We  believe,  how- 
ever, that  such  settlements  should  be  directed  so 
far  as  possible  toward  communities  already  establish- 
ed until  the  lands  so  available  are  disposed  of. 

We  don't  want  to  be  understood  as  advising  that 
the  State  make  further  purchases  of  agricultural 
lands  with  the  idea  of  disposing  of  them  upon  such 
terms  to  the  settler,  other  than  those  which  may  be 
unavoidably  obtained  in  the  purchase  of  large  tracts. 
We  feel  that  the  competition  which  would  be  caused 
thereby  might  be  injurious  to  private  interests. 
This  plan  is  recommended  solely  for  the  purpose 
of  placing  agricultural  lands  in  the  hands  of  actual 
settlers  and  encouraging  the  development  of  North- 
eastern Wisconsin — making  provision  so  that  the 
forestry  policy  will  be  a  help  and  not  a  hindrance. 

We  feel  that  every  effort  should  be  made  to  retain 
for  the  use  of  the  people  of  the  State  as  much  of 
the  lake  frontage  as  possible  and  that  in  no  event 
should  the  State  dispose  of  more  than  fifty  per 
cent  of  such  lake  frontage,  meaning  thereby  that 
the  State  should  itself  retain  this  percentage  on  the 
shore  of  each  lake. 

Where  such  lands  adjoin  the  lakes,  we  advise  the 
retention  of  500  feet  in  depth  of  frontage  upon  said 
shores  to  be  held  by  the  State  for  forestry  purposes 
and  such  other  use  as  the  Forestry  Board  may  re- 
commend. We  don't  believe,  however,  that  any 
sales  of  lake  frontage  should  be  made  except  where 
the  same  is  classified  as  good  agricultural  land  and 
is  within  the  districts  which  have  been  opened  for 
settlement. 

In    the    vicinity    of    the    permanent    forest    reserve 


56  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

area  there  are  a  good  many  public  summer  resorts, 
the  main  attraction  of  which  has  been  the  wildness 
of  the  surroundings,  with  the  attendant  supply  of 
fish  and  game.  This  attraction  has  been  growing 
steadily  less  because  of  the  extensive  lumbering 
operations  and  the  accompanying  forest  fires. 

The  establishment  of  the  forest  reserve  has  in- 
sured the  permanent  attractiveness  of  this  region 
for  public  recreation  purposes,  and  in  time  it  will 
even  increase  the  beauty  and  desirability  of  the  re- 
gion and  result  in  a  largely  increased  summer  resort 
business.  The  money  expended  by  tourists  will  go 
to  resort  owners,  stage  drivers,  guides,  boat  liveries, 
dealers  in  food  supplies,  and  to  the  railroads. 

There  are  already  91  public  resorts  in  the  forest 
reserve  region,  with  639  buildings.  These  can  ac- 
commodate 4,372  guests  at  one  time,  and  an  in- 
vestigation has  shown  that  the  number  of  guests 
accommodated  in  a  year  is  approximately  13,131 
and  the  actual  gross  receipts  in  a  year  are  $356,025. 
The  hotels  in  the  small  towns  within  the  forest 
reserve  area,  which  get  a  large  share  of  their  busi- 
ness from  the  summer  tourists,  together  with  the 
livery  stables  and  boat  liveries,  report  a  gross  an- 
nual, business  of  $59,057.  It  is  probably  safe  to 
estimate  that  50%  of  this  amount,  or  $29,537,  is 
paid  by  summer  tourists. 

There  are  hundreds  of  lakes  within  the  forest 
reserve  area,  and  when  these  and  the  forests  are 
protected,  with  consequent  improvement  in  the  hunt- 
ing and  fishing,  the  resort  business  should  increase 
to  a  very  large  figure. 

The  people  living  in  and  near  the  forest  reserve 
should  be  most  interested  in  this  project,  and  if  they 
were  fully  advised  as  to  the  great  benefit  which  will 
inure  therefrom  both  to  themselves  and  the  people 
of  Wisconsin,  they  would  not  hesitate  to  aid  in  the 
furthering  and  advancement  of  the  present  forestry 
work.  We  venture  to  say  that  in  years  to  come 
when  this  territory  adapted  to  the  growth  of  trees 
has  been  carefully  protected  from  fire  and  replanted 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE  57 

to  native  white  and  norway  pine  it  will  become  the 
resort  of  thousands  of  sportsmen,  health  and  pleas- 
ure seekers;  that  the  revenue  from  this  source  will 
equal,  if  not  surpass,  the  benefits  to  be  derived 
from  farming;  that  it  will  not  only  prove  of  great 
commercial  value  to  the  people  of  that  section  from 
a  forestry  standpoint,  but  will  assist  and  aid  in  its 
agricultural  development.  If  thousands  of  people 
visit  this  place  in  a  season,  the  farmers  and  people 
living  there  will  be  the  ones  to  profit  thereby.  There 
is  no  class  of  people  better  able  or  more  willing  to 
pay  high  prices  for  good  farm  products  than  the 
tourist.  Another  source  of  profit  is,  that  the  grow- 
ing and  harvesting  of  a  crop  of  trees  and  replanting 
when  cut  furnishes  an  opportunity  lor  the  employ- 
ment of  laboring  men.  Forestry  will  aid  in  making 
the  whole  area  productive,  something  which  cannot 
be  if  non-agricultural  land  is  not  planted  to  trees. 
A  well-established  and  continually  maintained  forest 
will  give  employment  through  planting,  care,  har- 
vesting and  manufacture  to  a  great  number  of 
people.  The  opportunity  for  a  splendid  forest  re- 
serve, for  a  State  Park  where  the  people  from  all 
parts  of  Wisconsin  can  journey  and  enjoy  out-of- 
door  life  coupled  with  the  farm  development  of  the 
good  agricultural  lands  and  the  natural  beauties  of 
this  region,  should  make  it  the  finest  in  Wisconsin 
and  one  of  the  best  in  the  United  States. 


58  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 


CHANGE  IN   THE   FIRE   LAW 

In  cases  of  emergency  where  forest  fires  are  so 
badAthat  the  local  fire  wardens  are  unable  to  control 
them  without  the  assistance  of  residents,  and  where 
special  fire  wardens  appointed  on  recommendation 
of  the  town  chairman  by  the  State  Forester,  have 
to  take  charge  and  call  out  helpers,  it  is  important 
that  the  men  who  fight  fire  be  paid  more  promptly 
than  is  possible  under  the  present  law  which  re- 
quires the'  approval  of  claims  by  county  boards 
which  do  not  meet  at  all  frequently.  Many  of  the 
men  who  are  available  to  fight  fires  in  forested 
regions  are  only  temporarily  in  the  vicinity,  or,  if 
there  for  longer  time,  are  unwilling  to  fight  fire 
unless  they  are  paid  promptly. 

Therefore,  it  seems  best  to  have  such  men  paid 
in  the  first  instance  by  the  State,  which  will  then 
collect  one-half  the  expense  from  the  county,  instead 
of  having  the  payment  made  first  by  the  county, 
which  then  collects  one-half  from  the  State.  The 
State  can  make  prompt  payment  and  the  county 
cannot,  if  the  approval  of  the  county  board  is  first 
to  be  obtained. 

The  following  amendment  does  not  make  any 
change  in  the  amount  of  payment  allowed  or  in 
the  ultimate  source  of  such  payment;  it  merely  re- 
verses the  order  of  procedure,  so  as  to  secure  prompt 
payment,  aud  substitutes  the  joint  approval  of  the 
fire  warden  under  whom  service  was  performed  and 
of  the  state  forester  for  the  approval  of  the  county 
board. 

AMENDMENT  TO  SECTION  1494-48a. 

2.  The  fire  wardens  appointed  by  the  state  fire 
warden  shall  prepare  itemized  accounts  for  their  own 
services  and  the  services  of  their  assistants,  and  no 
account  shall  be  paid  until  it  has  been  approved 
by  the  state  fire  warden,  or  assistant  state  fire  war- 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY  COMMITTEE  59 

den.  The  secretary  of  state  shall  then  issue  a  war- 
rant upon  the  general  fund  of  the  state  treasury 
for  the  amount  of  such  account,  and  the  state 
treasurer  shall  pay  the  same.  Under  the  provisions 
of  this  act  the  secretary  of  state  shall  not  issue 
warrants  for  more  than  ten  thousand  dollars  for 
fighting  forest  fires  in  any  one  county  in  any  one 
year,  and  one  half  of  the  amount  paid  by  the  state 
shall  be  refunded  to  the  state  by  the  county  in 
which  the  fires  were  fought.  In  case  the  work  of 
fighting  fires  covers  a  portion  of  two  or  more  coun- 
ties, the  amount  to  be  paid  by  each  county  shall 
be  decided  by  the  state  fire  warden. 

3.  As  soon  as  each  account  has  been  approved 
by  the  state  fire  warden  and  paid  by  the  state  treas- 
urer, the  state  fire  warden  shall  send  to  the  county 
treasurer  a  bill  for  the  county's  share  of  the  ex- 
pense and  a  copy  of  the  bill  shall  be  filed  with  the 
secretary  of  state.  The  county  shall  have  sixty 
days  within  which  to  pay  any  bill  but  if  not  paid 
within  sixty  days  the  county  shall  be  liable  for 
interest  at  the  rate  of  six  per  centum  per  annum. 
However,  if  the  sixty  days  shall  have  elapsed  be- 
fore the  time  provided  by  law  for  the  secretary 
of  state  to  certify  to  the  counties  the  levy  for  state 
taxes,  then  the  secretary  of  state  shall  include  the 
bill  or  bills  against  the  county  for  fighting  fire 
which  remain  unpaid  in  the  levy  against  the  county 
for  state  taxes. 

NOTE: — The  above  amendment  is  to  replace  sub- 
sections 2  and  3  of  section  1494-48a. 


60  REPORT  OF   SPECIAL   FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 


TAXATION 

A  serious  mistake  was  made  when  the  present 
forestry  work  was  begun  in  not  making  some  pro- 
vision for  the  relief  of  the  taxing  districts  by  reason 
of  their  being  deprived  of  the  tax  revenue  from  the 
State  lands. 

During  the  time  that  the  State  has  been  acquiring 
184,314  acres,  it  has  disposed  of  79,974  acres;  still, 
in  the  effort  of  the  forestry  board  to  block  up  and 
consolidate  the  reserve  the  State's  holdings  have 
become  confined  to  a  much  smaller  territory.  Hence, 
the  loss  of  taxable  property  by  some  of  the  assess- 
ment districts  has  become  very  noticeable  and  in 
some  instances  a  considerable  hardship.  The  earlier 
Legislatures  should  have  made  some  provision  for 
this.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  forestry  depart- 
ment has  recommended  some  relief,  nothing  was 
done,  however,  until  the  session  of  1913. 

At  that  time  a  bill  was  passed  which  provided 
for  the  payment  by  the  State  of  a  tax  upon  all 
lands  within  the  forest  reserve  area  for  all  except 
State  purposes  at  a  rate  of  taxation  not  to  exceed 
1  \  per  centum  of  the  assessed  value.  By  reason 
of  this  having  been  limited  to  the  forest  reserve 
area  the  question  of  its  constitutionality  has  been 
raised  and  the  matter  is  now  before  the  State  Su 
preme  Court. 

That  this  act  will,  if  constitutional,  afford  relief 
has  not  been  questioned. 

The  total  assessed  value  of  all  the  State  lands  in 
the  forest  reserve  amounts  to  $1,249,521  for  the 
year  1913,  the  tax  upon  which,  as  certified  by  the 
Wisconsin  Tax  Commission  to  the  Secretary  of 
State,  amounted  to  $15,619.05. 

Pennsylvania  has  a  system  by  which  each  town- 
ship or  assessment  district  is  paid  two  cents  per  acre 
towards  the  maintenance  of  schools  and  an  additional 
two  cents  per  acre  toward  the  up-keep  of  its  roads— 
this  making  in  all  four  cents  per  acre.  Taking  the 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE  61 

State  holdings  at  400,000  acres  at  four  cents  per  acre 
would  make  $16,000,  or  approximately  the  same 
amount  which  would  have  been  paid  by  the  State 
under  Chapter  740  of  the  Laws  of  1913  had  not  the 
constitutional  question  been  raised. 

Should    this   law    be    found    unconstitutional   it    will 
be  necessary  for  the  state  to  provide  adequate  relief. 


62  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY  COMMITTEE 


TAXATION    OF   PRIVATE    TIMBER    LANDS 

Many  of  the  States  of  the  Union  have  enacted 
various  tax  laws  to  encourage  the  planting  and  culti- 
vation of  trees.  None  of  them  have  solved  the  prob- 
lem of  forest  taxation.  Practically  no  results  have 
been  obtained  under  them,  although  many  have  been 
in  force  for  years.  In  most  instances  these  laws 
apply  strictly  to  plantations  of  timber  or  woodlots, 
making  no  provision  for  the  exemption  of  natural 
growths  of  timber  and,  therefore,  not  encouraging 
protection  of  natural  reproduction. 

That  taxation  had  much  to  do  in  hurrying  the 
cutting  of  timber  and  in  discouraging  its  growth  and 
preservation  are  too  well-known  to  be  questioned. 
Some  effort  should  be  made  along  these  lines  in 
Wisconsin.  The  present  laws  exempting  from  taxa- 
tion for  thirty  years  are  inadequate.  Mature  timber 
cannot  be  expected  in  that  time,  and  if  a  full  assess- 
ment is  made  after  that  period  the  result  will  be  to 
practically  confiscate  the  property  before  the  timber 
is  ready  for  the  market. 

In  Pennsylvania  the  lands  are  classified  and  imma- 
ture timber  is  placed  in  a  class  called  an  "Auxiliary 
Forest  Reserve."  The  acceptance  of  these  lands  is 
left  with  the  Forestry  Commission.  When  placed  in 
the  above  class  they  are  not  assessed  for  more  than 
one  dollar  per  acre  until  the  trees  are  mature  and 
cut,  and  when  cut  they  are  then  taxed  ten  per  centum 
upon  the  stumpage  value  of  the  timber. 

This  exemption  from  taxation  if  in  any  considerable 
amount  works  the  same  injury  to  the  local  assess- 
ment district  as  the  exemption  of  state  forest  hold- 
ings. By  reason  of  that  the  aforementioned  State 
made  a  further  provision  that  wherever  such  Auxili- 
ary Forest  Reserve  lands  are  located  that  township 
or  county  should  be  paid  out  of  the  state  treasury 
the  sum  of  two  cents  an  acre  for  roads  and  two  cents 
an  acre  for  schools.  That  has  made  it  possible  for 
individuals  to  engage  in  forestry  in  that  State.  The 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY  COMMITTEE  63 

members  of  the  Pennsylvania  Forestry  Commission 
seem  to  feel  that  the  law  is  working  satisfactorily 
and  encouraging  private  attempts  at  reforestation. 

We  herewith  present  the  following  bill  for  your 
consideration: 

A  Bill  relating  to  the  taxation  of  timberlands: 

Section  1.  In  consideration  of  the  public  benefit  to 
be  derived  from  forestry  management  upon  a  consid- 
erable area  of  the  timberlands  within  the  state,  the 
owner  of  any  timberland  may  apply  to  the  State 
Board  of  Forestry  for  an  examination  of  his  lands  and 
timber.  Such  application  shall  be  accompanied  by  a 
plat  and  description  of  such  timberland  and  a  guar- 
antee to  pay  the  reasonable  expense  of  such  exami- 
nation and  report. 

Section  2.  In  case  the  state  board  of  forestry  finds 
upon  examination  that  the  management  of  such  tim- 
berland under  forestry  regulations  would  be  a  public 
benefit,  it  shall  submit  a  report  for  the  management 
of  such  lands  to  the  owner  thereof,  clearly  stating 
the  regulations  in  regard  to  the  cutting  of  the  timber, 
and  in  case  the  owner  shall  accept  the  same,  a  con- 
tract covering  the  regulations  for  the  cutting  of  the 
timber  shall  be  entered  into  between  the  owner  and 
the  state;  but  no  such  contract  shall  be  entered  into 
in  case  of  matured  timber  held  for  speculative  pur- 
poses. 

Section  3.  Upon  the  execution  of  the  above  con- 
tract, the  state  board  of  forestry  shall  file  a  plat 
and  description  of  the  lands  with  the  local  assessors, 
and  after  such  plat  and  description  have  been  filed 
with  them,  the  assessors  when  making  the  annual 
assessment  shall  assess  only  the  value  of  the  land  and 
no  tax  shall  be  paid  upon  the  timber  until  it  is  cut. 
In  no  case  shall  the  land  be  assessed  at  a  higher 
rate  than  cut-over  land  in  the  same  town. 

Section  4.  When  the  owner  of  such  timberlands 
cuts  therefrom  any  timber,  cord  wood,  poles,  posts, 
or  any  other  forest  products  for  any  purposes  what- 
soever, he  shall  make,  or  cause  to  be  made,  an  accu- 


64  REPORT   OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

rate  measure  of  all  such  products  and  file  a  sworn 
copy  of  such  measurement  with  the  assessors,  and 
such  sworn  statement  shall  be  the  basis  of  the  tax 
valuation. 

Section  5.  Before  any  such  products  are  sold  or  re- 
moved the  owner  of  the  timberland  from  which  they 
have  been  cut,  shall  pay  in  lieu  of  the  usual  annual 
tax  upon  the  timber  the  following  percentages  of  the 
stumpage  value  of  such  products  as  determined  by 
the  assessors,  according  to  the  number  of  years  the 
timberland  has  been  managed  according  to  the  pro- 
visions of  the  above  contract,  viz.: 

2  years  10  per  cent  of  the  stumpage  value. 

3  years  10  per  cent  of  the  stumpage  value. 

4  years  10  per  cent  of  the  stumpage  value. 

5  years  10  per  cent  of  the  stumpage  value. 

6  years  10  per  cent  of  the  stumpage  value. 

7  years  10  per  cent  of  the  stumpage  value. 

8  years  10  per  cent  of  the  stumpage  value. 

9  years  10  per  cent  of  the  stumpage  value. 
10  years  10  per  cent  of  the  stumpage  value. 

From  ten  to  forty  years  the  timber  or  forest  prod- 
ucts shall  not  be  assessed  over  ten  per  cent  of  the 
stumpage  value,  as  above  provided,  and  the  state 
shall  not  enter  into  any  contract  for  a  longer  period 
than  forty  years. 

Section  6.  The  state  board  of  forestry  or  the  local 
assessors  shall  have  the  right  at  any  time  to  make, 
or  cause  to  be  made,  a  check  scale  or  measurement 
of  any  products  for  which  a  sworn  statement  has 
been  filed  with  the  assessors  under  the  provisions  of 
section  4  of  this  act. 

Section  7.  All  timberlands  affected  by  any  of  the 
foregoing  sections  and  assessed  in  the  usual  manner 
shall  be  subject  to  the  same  rules  and  regulations  as 
to  correction  and  review  by  local  board  of  review  as 
now  provided  by  law.  The  same  right  of  appeal 
shall  apply  as  affects  any  other  property  in  the  same 
district. 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE  65 

Section  8.  The  owner  of  any  timberland  who  shall 
have  entered* into  a  contract  with  the  state  to  man- 
age the  forests  under  such  regulations  as  the  state 
may  prescribe  and  who  shall  then  fail  to  file  a  sworn 
statement  as  to  the  measurement  of  such  products 
as  he  may  cut,  or  who  shall  remove  such  products 
without  notifying  the  local  assessors,  or  who  shall 
swear  falsely  as  to  the  measurements  of  such  pro- 
ducts, shall  pay  ten  per  cent  of  the  value  of  such 
products  as  determined  by  the  assessors,  and  in  addi- 
tion thereto,  shall  be  liable  to  a  fine  of  not  les.s  than 
$1.00  nor  more  than  $10.00  for  each  tree  so  cut  and 
removed. 

Section  9.  All  acts  and  parts  of  acts  inconsistent 
or  in  conflict  with  the  provisions  of  this  act  are 
hereby  repealed. 

Section  10.  This  act  shall  take  effect  and  be  in 
force  from  and  after  its  passage  and  publication. 


66  REPORT   OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

CONSOLIDATION    OF    THE    STATE    BOARD    OF 

FORESTRY     WITH     OTHER 

DEPARTMENTS 

We  believe  that  the  time  is  ripe  for  the  consolida- 
tion of  several  of  the  boards  which  are  working 
along  the  lines  of  conservation  into  one  department 
to  be  known  as  the  State  Conservation  Commission. 
In  this  way  a  great  deal  of  the  duplication  and  ex- 
pense of  maintenance  and  operation  may  be  elimi- 
nated. More  effective  work  could  be  done  and  at 
the  same  time  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  competent, 
trained  officials. 

The  work  of  many  of  the  different  departments  is 
conducted,  or  at  least,  supervised,  by  ex-officio 
boards,  acting  without  other  compensation  than 
their  actual  traveling  expenses.  By  the  consolida- 
tion of  this  work  much  better  results  can  be  ac- 
complished and  men  employed  who  would  devote  all 
of  their  time  and  energy  to  the  work. 

We  suggest  that  this  commission  be  made  to  em- 
brace the  following  now  existing  departments: 

1.  Fish  and   Game   Department. 

2.  Fish   Commission. 

3.  State  Board  of  Forestry. 

4.  State  Park  Board. 

5.  State   Conservation   Commission. 

This  work  could  then  be  placed  in  the  hands  of 
three  men  and  at  a  much  less  expense  than  is  now 
necessary.  We  would  recommend  that  one  of  the 
Commissioners  be  a  man  with  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  propagation,  protection  and  care  of  fish  and 
game;  the  second  be  a  technically  trained  forester, 
and  the  third  a  technically  trained  engineer,  and  that 
all  these  appointments  be  made  by  the  Governor  in 
the  same  manner  as  the  members  of  the  Railroad 
Commission. 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE  67 


A   Bill 

To  create  sections  1494t-7  and  1494t-8  of  the 
statutes;  to  amend  subsection  1  of  section  1498, 
section  1494-42,  and  section  1498x,  of  the  statutes, 
and  to  repeal  subsections  2,  3  and  4  of  section  1498, 
and  sections  1494-46,  1495,  1496  and  1494t-l  of  the 
statutes,  abolishing  the  offices  of  state  fish  and  game 
warden,  state  board  of  forestry,  state  conservation 
commission,  commissioners  of  fisheries  and  the  state 
park  board,  and  providing  for  the  appointment  of  a 
state  conservation  commission  of  Wisconsin. 

The  people  of  the  state  of  Wisconsin,  represented 
in  senate  and  assembly,  do  enact  as  follows: 

Section  1.  There  are  added  to  the  statutes  two 
new  sections  to  read:  Section  1494t-7.  1.  A  state 
conservation  commission  is  hereby  created  to  be  com- 
posed of  three  commissioners.  Immediately  after 
the  passage  of  this  act  the  Governor  shall,  by  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  senate,  appoint 
such  commissioners,  but  no  commissioner  so  ap- 
pointed shall  be  qualified  to  act  until  so  confirmed. 
One  of  the  commissioners  shall  be  a  man  with  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  propagation,  protection 
and  care  of  fish  and  game;  the  second  shall  be  a 
technically  trained  forester;  and  the  third  a  tech- 
nically trained  engineer.  The  term  of  one  such 
appointee  shall  terminate  on  the  first  Monday  in 
February,  1919;  the  term  of  the  second  such  appoin- 
tee shall  terminate  on  the  first  Monday  in  February, 
1921;  and  the  term  of  the  third  such  appointee 
shall  terminate  on  the  first  Monday  in  February, 
1923.  In  January,  1919  and  biennially  thereafter 
there  shall  be  appointed,  and  comfirmed  in  the 
same  manner,  one  commissioner  for  the  term  of 
six  years  from  the  first  Monday  in  February  of 
such  year.  Each  such  commissioner  so  appointed 
shall  hold  his  office  until  his  successor  is  appointed 
and  qualified.  Any  vacancies  shall  be  filled  by 
appointment  by  the  governor  •  for  the  unexpired 


68  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

term  subject  to  confirmation  by  the  senate,  but 
no  such  appointment  shall  be  in  full  force  until 
acted  upon  by  the  senate.  Each  such  commission- 
er shall  receive  an  annual  salary  of  three  thousand 
five  hundred  dollars. 

2.  The    governor    may    at    any    time    remove    any 
commissioner    for    inefficiency,     neglect    of    duty,     or 
malfeasance     in     office.     Before     such     removal     he 
shall   give   such   commissioner   a   copy   of   the   charges 
against    him    and    shall    fix    a    time    when    he    can    be 
heard    in    his    own    defense,    which    shall    not    be    less 
than    ten    days    thereafter,,    and    such    hearing    shall 
be     open    to    the    public.      If    he    shall    be    removed 
the   governor  shall   file  in   the   office   of  the   secretary 
of   state    a    complete    statement    of   all    charges    made 
against  such  commissioner,  and    his   findings   thereon, 
with    a   record   of   all   proceedings. 

3.  No    commissioner,    nor   the   secretary,    shall    hold 
any  other  office,   or  position  of  profit,   or  pursue  any 
other    business    or    vocation,    or    serve    on    or    under 
any     committee     of     any     political     party,     but     shall 
devote   his  entire   time  to   the   duties   of  his   office. 

4.  Before    entering    upon    the    duties    of    his    office, 
each     of    said     commissioners     shall     take     and     sub- 
scribe   a    constitutional    oath    of    office,    and    shall    in 
addition   thereto   swear    (or   affirm)    that   he   holds   no 
other    office    of    profit,    nor    any    position    under    any 
political    committee    or    party;    such    oath     (or    affir- 
mation)   shall   be   filed   in   the   office   of   the   secretary 
of     state. 

5.  The    commissioners    appointed    under    this    sec- 
tion   shall    within    twenty    days    after    their    appoint- 
ment   and   affirmation   meet   at   the   state   capitol   and 
organize   by  electing  one   of  their    number    chairman, 
who   shall  serve   until   the  second    Monday  of    Febru- 
ary  1917.      On   the    second    Monday    of    February    in 
each   odd  numbered  year  the  commissioners  shall  meet 
at  the  office   of  the  commission   and  elect  a  chairman 
who  shall  serve  for  two  years   and    until    his    succes- 
sor   is    elected.       A    majority    of    said    commissioners 
shall  constitute  a  quorum  to  transact  business,  and  any 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY  COMMITTEE  69 

vacancy  shall  not  impair  the  right  of  the  remaining 
commissioners  to  exorcise  all  the  powess  of  the 
commission. 

6.  Said   commission   shall    appoint   a   secretary   who 
shall    keep    a    full    and    correct    account    of    all    trans- 
actions    and     proceedings     of     said     commission     and 
shall   perform   such   other   duties   as   may   be   required 
by    said     commission     and     shall     receive     an     annual 
salary    not    exceeding    fifteen    hundred    dollars.       Said 
commission    may    employ    the    necessary    clerks    and 
stenographers    to    perform    the    clerical    work    of    the 
office,   and   appoint  and  employ  such  foresters,   ward- 
ens,   experts,    agents,    superintendents,    assistants    and 
employes  as   may  be  necessary  to  carry  out  the  pro- 
visions   of   this    section,    and    shall    fix    the    compensa- 
tion  for   such    clerks,    stenographers,    foresters,     ward- 
ens,  experts,    agents,    superintendents,    assistants    and 
employes.        The     experts     and     temporary     employes 
shall    be    exempt   from    the    operation    of   chapter   44a 
of  the   statutes. 

7.  The    commissioners    shall    be    known    collectively 
as    the    "state    conservation    commission    of    Wiscon- 
sin*"   and    in    that    name    may    sue    and    be    sued.       It 
shall    have    a    seal    with    the    words    "state    conserva- 
tion    commission     of     Wisconsin,"      and     such     other 
design    as    the  .  commission    may    prescribe    engraved 
thereon,    by    which   it   shall    authenticate   its    proceed- 
ings    and     of     which     the     court     shall     take    judicial 
notice. 

8.  Said    commission    shall    keep    its    office    at    the 
state   capitol   and   the   superintendent   of  public   prop- 
erty   is    directed    to    provide    suitable    rooms    for    that 
purpose,    also  the   necessary   office  furniture,   supplies, 
postage   and   stationery.      Said   commission  is   author- 
ized   to    purchase    the    necessary    supplies,    equipment 
and    instruments,    to    procure   printed  forms   and   not- 
ices   and    to    issue    special    publications    pertaining    to 
its  work,  the  cost  of  which  shall  be  audited  and  paid 
the  same   as   other  expenses   of  the  state   are   audited 
and    paid.       Said    commission    may    hold    meetings    at 
other   places   than    the    capitol    whenever   in   its   judg- 


70  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

ment    the    interests    of   the    state    can    best    be    served 
by   so   doing. 

Section  1494t-8.  1.  All  duties,  liabilities,  authority, 
powers,  and  privileges  imposed  or  conferred  by  law 
upon  the  state  fish  and  game  warden,  the  state 
board  of  forestry,  the  state  forester,  the  assistant 
state  forester,  the  state  fire  warden,  the  assistant 
state  fire  warden,  the  state  trespass  agent  and  the 
assistant  state  trespass  agent,  the  state  conservation 
commission,  the  commissioners  of  fisheries,  the  super- 
intendent of  fisheries,  the  assistant  superintendent  of 
fisheries  and  the  state  park  board  are  conferred  and 
imposed  upon  the  state  conservation  commission  of 
Wisconsin. 

2.  All    provisions    of    the    statutes    relating    to    the 
state  fish  and  game  warden,   all  deputies,   special  and 
county  game  wardens,   to  the  state  board  of  forestry 
to   the   state   forester,    to   the    assistant   state    forester, 
to  the  state,   county   and   town   fire  wardens,   to   tres- 
pass   agents,    to    the    state    conservation    commission, 
to  the  commissioners  of  fisheries,   to  the  superintend- 
ent   of    fisheries,    to    the    assistant    superintendent    of 
fisheries   and   to   the   state   park   board   shall   apply,  to 
and   be   deemed  to  relate   to   the   said   state   conserva- 
tion   commission    of    Wisconsin,    and    the    officers    pro- 
vided for  by  this  section,  so  far  as  the  said  laws  are 
applicable. 

3.  All     funds,     appropriations     and     moneys     made 
available    by    law    for    carrying    out    the    purposes    set 
forth   in    the   laws    creating,    regulating,    providing   for 
and    relating    to    such    fish    and    game    warden,    such 
state    board    of   forestry,    such    commissioners    of    fish- 
eries,   the    state    conservation    commission,    and    such 
state   park   board,    and   any  laws   creating,    regulating, 
providing    for    and    relating    to    all    clerks,    employes, 
assistants,    deputies,    wardens,    special    and    additional 
wardens,      county     wardens,      county     or     town     fire 
wardens,    trespass    agents    and    superintendents,     and 
all  funds,    appropriations   and   moneys  under  the   con- 
trol   of   any   state   fish    and    game   warden,    such   state 
board   of  forestry,   of  such   commissioners  of  fisheries, 


REPORT   OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE  71 

of  the  state  conservation  commission,  and  such  state 
park  board,  and  all  clerks,  employes,  assistants, 
deputies,  wardens,  special  and  additional  wardens, 
county  wardens,  county  or  town  fire  wardens,  tres- 
pass agents,  and  superintendents,  shall  be  available 
to  and  under  the  control  of  the  state  conservation 
commission  of  Wisconsin  herein  created. 

4.  All    laws    relating    to    the    collection,     carrying, 
transfer,    custody    and    disbursement    of    said    funds, 
appropriations    and    moneys,    or   relating   to    any   cler- 
ical   or    ministerial    act    involved    in    such    collection, 
carrying,    transfer,    custody   and   disbursement   thereof 
shall     apply     to     the     collection,     carrying,     transfer, 
custody   and   disbursement   of  said   funds  when   under 
the  control  of  the  said  state  conservation  commission 
of   Wisconsin. 

5.  Any    amendment    made    to    sections    of   the    stat- 
utes   relating    to    the     duties,     liabilities,     authorities, 
powers    and    privileges    of    or    relating    to    funds,    ap- 
propriations   and    moneys    available    to    or    under    the 
control  of  any  of  the  commissioners  or  officers  named 
in    this    section    shall    be    deemed    to    relate    to    the 
duties,    liabilities,    authority,    powers,    and    privileges 
imposed    and    conferred    upon    the    said    conservation 
commission    and    to    the    funds,     appropriations    and 
moneys    available    to    or    under    the    control    of    such 
commission. 

Section  2.  Subsection  1  of  section  1498,  subsec- 
tions 3  and  4  of  section  1494-42,  and  section  1498x 
of  the  statutes  are  amended  to  read:  (Section  1498) 

P  V>  f\     <j  n  \.T  o  y  T~>  r>T*     ^Vi  n  1  1      n  T^T^ni  TI  t      o      qt  n  t  p     fi  n  Vi      n  TI  c\ 

TT.  JL  A-LV,        c^  vy  v  t7i  ii  vyi         0  11  till        LI  |J  ]J  U  1  1  1  t       Tt       a  LU.  L"       11  tJ  11        till  U. 

game  warden-  by  &&4  wi^fe-  tke  ftd^iee  a**4  consent 

TTT  l"\  /"\  O  l^fc  f^  1  I  j^-y  yy  |  f~\  V^  T  o  rf"VT  Ti_/>r\          -p/-\y»          -f-  1^  n 

\\  ll  u      yil  till      11U1L1      111C5      Ul  11  UU      1  Ul       L11U 

ei  Ms  appoin%- 
Ms    successor   is-    appointed 
unless    peme^ed-    fey    %he    governor 


l  x^  <^v  T^|  /j  1  1  /^  "f  i.  y^  r^T  fi  ^ir\v*  ^»XT  jCXH        t^t  ^k  rf  lv^  4^  -f         ^vf        s~\  i  i  -f  T_T  • 

r-uvj  11  vi  u  x^^9     Tiiuriiuiuii  ^j?     TTT     11  ugiuv^  L     Ul      Ll  Ll  L  ^  9 

aeaftey  occurring  during  said  -term  shall  fee 
fey  4he  govornef  IOF  tfee  Fesid-^e  of  -tfee  ^teffft. 
It  shall  be  the  duty  of  Sfti4  wftfdeft  the  state  con- 
servation commission  of  Wisconsin  to  secure  the 


72  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

enforcement  of  the  law  for  the  preservation  of  fish 
and  game  and  to  bring  or  cause  to  be  brought 
actions  and  proceedings  in  the  name  of  the  state 
to  recover  any  and  all  fines  and  penalties  provided 
for.  Me  shall  d-se  -pe*4ew¥i-  the  same  duties  fts 
i*t  section  1636c  prescribed  le?  fee  wardens, 
shall  further  report  4e  the  land  commissiofteps 
information  relating  ^te  th-e  state  lands  fts 
shall  lfe«*  time  4e  time  be  required  ft**4  conccrn- 
k*g  ft**y  trespasses  thereon  which  may  ee«*e  -fee 
Ms  knowledge. 

Section  1494-42.  ±.  There  shall  be  ft  state  ler- 
este*1,  who  shall  be  ft  technically  trained  forester, 
appointed  by  the  state  board  el  forestry,  ft**4 
whether  ft**y  candidate  ler  tMs  position  is  ft  tech- 
nically -trained  forester  shall  be  determined  by 
certificates  from  %ke  secretary  el  the  United  States 
department  el  ftgpie-H-lturc. 

3.  Me  shall  receive  ft  salary  el  three  ^b-eusand 
six  hundred  dollars  pe?  year,  ft«-4  ^tbe  actual  ft»4 
necessary  traveling  ft«4  fteW  expenses,  i^-eurrcd 
i«-  %fee  conduct  el  b4s  official  business,  be 
powGred  %e  appoint  ft  clerk  whose  salary  skft 
exceed  fifteen  hundred  dollars  -pe*1  annum)  be 
supplied  with  suitable  offices,  be  entitled  from 
the  superintendent  el  public  property  %e  such 
stationary,  postage,  ft«4  other  office  supplies  ftft4 
equipment  fts  may  be  necessary,  be  authorized  4e 
purchase  ftH  necessary  field  supplies,  equipment, 
ftftd-  instruments,  be  furnished  by  trh-e  state  ftH 
necessary  printed  learns  ft»4  notices  ft»4  t4^e  -p*tb- 
lications  hereinafter  ^i^e^i4e4,  ft»4  shall  ftet  fts 
secretary  el  4fee  stftte  board  el  forestry. 

3.  Ne.  i.  r/?e  s/a/e  conservation  commission  of  Wis- 
consin shall,  under  tbe  supervision  el  ^tke  state 
board  el  forestry,  execute  all  matters  pertaining  to 
forestry  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  state,  direct 
the  management  of  the  state  forest  reserve,  depute 
e«e  el  Ms  assistants  ^te  ftet  d-tH=H*g  Ms  absence  ef 
disability,  collect  data  relative  to  forest  destruc- 
tion and  conditions,  take  such  action  as  is  author- 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY  COMMITTEE  73 

ized  by  law  to  prevent  and  extinguish  forest  fires 
and  to  prevent  forest  trespass;  cooperate  in  for- 
estry as  provided  under  Section  /  1494-45  of  the 
statutes;  and  advance  as  fee  may  deem  be  deemed 
wise  by  the  issuing  of  publications  and  by  lectures, 
the  cause  of  forestry  within  the  state;  and  may 
cooperate  with  the  university  of  Wisconsin  in  the 
instruction  and  training  of  forest  rangers.  He 
Such  commission  shall  prepare  biennially  ft  report 
•ke  £fee  stoke  board  el  forestry  biennially  on  the 
progress  and  condition  of  state  forest  work,  and 
recommend  therein  plans  for  improving  the  state 
system  of  forest  protection,  management,  replace- 
ment, and  taxation.  Tfee  state  board  el  forestry 
shall  report  biennially  ft  summary  el  s-ttefe  facts 
to  the  governor. 

4.  2  —  The  care  and  protection  of  all  lands  that 
have  been,  or  may  hereafter  be  acquired  by 
the  state  for  public  park  purposes,  shall  be  under 
the  direction  of  the  state  feoard  el  forestry  con- 
servation commission  of  Wisconsin,  and  all  moneys 
appropriated  for  the  purposes  of  the  protection  and 
improvement  of  such  parks  shall  be  expended  under 
the  supervision  of  such  board  el  le^es-key  commis- 
sion. 

Section  1498x.  :?feeFe  is  hereby  created  ft  com- 
mission -te  fee  known  fts  tfee  state  conscrva4ieft 
commission  el  tfee  state  el  Wisconsin,  ^fee  same 
%e  consist  el  seven  members,  ^te  fee  ft-ppointcd  fey 

T  r^\y»  yv  ^VT*  t     KV  f\        4~  /"vr»  w^        ^XT        /"XT  -f-i  />  ^       f\_f       4-  VA  f\        r»  ^v-rv^  -rv^  ••  r* 

XUl  11U1  .  -L  11VJ       LU1  111      vTr      Ul  11U13      Ul       Lll  U      VJ/^J  11  1  lllly  ™ 

sfeftil   fee   &em   fely   4-,    W44,    as    follows: 


i  f~\  Y*      d       T\  O  T*1  /^/i       /^f      4-  ycr  /"\      -\  r  r\  Q  yo,         -f  TTTL/^      T  /vv*       rx,      yvrXTTl./^kfi.      /^v  4* 
i  C/x      TT      LJ  ^  JL  1  w  d      T7T      L  W  v/       V  t>  cl  1  kj  ^       L  \v  v/      1  vy  1       TT      pTV^i'i  \7vJ.      v/A 

4-  f\  TIT*        -T  r  /^.  Q  -p_  o  r-|  >->  y-^         4-    l^i  T*  f\  f\        XO  "P        Q         T^\  f>  y*  T  /\  /^l        /~y-p       £llit       \  r  C*  Q  T*  Q.  •         O  O 

1  v/  U  1       jy  v/  til.  k?  5       C4.  A  A  vt       ^  AX  A  \_/  \_y      x  w  i       TT      L7  \j/  1  L\J  vl      TTT      oT^v       y  v/  d  i~  o  .       clo 

^tfeetF  4eFfi*s   exeire  ftti   appointments   shall   fee 
six     eftfs  ft«-4  until  %fee«F  »H-eecssor 


duties  el  -tfee  The  state  conservation  commis- 
sion of  Wisconsin  shall  fee  te  consider  the  natural 
resources  of  the  state  of  Wisconsin  with  reference 
to  their  remaining  unimpaired  so  far  as  this  is 
practicable.  The  commission  shall  ppeseftt  ft 
report  to  the  governor  e»  ef  feelere  June  &Q, 


74  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 


biennially  thereafter,  such  fepe^t  %e  contain 
on  or  before  June  30,  of  each  odd  numbered  year,  the 
results  of  investigations  and  recommendations  as  to 
measures  to  be  taken  to  conserve  the  natural 
resources  of  the  state,  and,  if  such  recommenda- 
tions embody  legislation,  drafts  of  bills  to  accom- 
plish the  same.  The  governor  is  authorized  to 
have  such  reports  printed  by  the  state  printer. 

Section  3.  Subsections  2,  3  and  4  of  section  1498, 
and  sections  1494-46,  1495,  1496  and  1494t-l  of 
the  statutes  are  repealed  from  and  after  September 
1,  1915. 

Section  4.  This  act  shall  take  effect  upon  passage 
and  publication. 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE  75 


Summary 


The  Committee  Found: 


1.  That    Wisconsin    conditions    are    ideal    tor    the   growing    of   trees, 
particularly  white  and  norway  pine. 

2.  That   artificial   reforestation   will   ultimately   become   a   source   of 
profit  to  the  State. 

3.  That  such  planting  should  be  confined  to  principally  white  and 
norway  pine. 

4.  That  quicker  and  cheaper  results  can  be  had  by  the  encourage- 
ment of  natural  second  growth — that  is,  natural  reproduction. 

5.  That  it  will  only  be  a  few  years  before  owners  of  private  estates 
will  engage  in  the  reforestation  of  their  non-agricultural  lands. 

6.  That  the  task  given  the  committee  to  decide  which  of  the  lands 
in  the  proposed  Forest  Reserve  are  best  adapted  to  agriculture  is  an 
impossible  one;  it  would  require  a  soil  survey  and  cruising  by  experts. 
That   all  the  committee  could   do  was  to  make  general  observations. 

7.  That  the  question  as  to  which  of  the  lands  are  available  for  agri- 
culture is  a  debatable  one.     That  the  demand  in  a  few  years  may  be 
such  that  some  of  the  land   now  really  considered   non-profitable  for 
farming  may  be  cultivated. 

8.  That  the  State  lands  now  owned  do  not  compare  favorably  with 
other  lands  in  the  proposed  reserve. 

9.  That  the  selection  of  the  lands  in  the  proposed  reserve  was  well 
made  and  no  better  place  could  be  found  in  the  State. 

10.  That  lands  should  be  held  in  large  areas  in  order  to  lessen  the 
cost  of  fire  protection  and  other  expense  of  reforestation. 

11.  That  there  are  large  areas  in  other  parts  of  the  State  only  fit 
for  forestry,  which  future  commercial  interests  may  demand  the  use  of 
for  this  purpose. 

12.  That  climatic  conditions,   while  a  hindrance  in  growing  certain 
crops,   do  no  more  than  limit  the  field  of  operation,  yet  with  oppor- 
tunity for  fairly  good  returns. 

13.  That  the  committee  found  large  areas  which  were  very  rough, 
covered  with  gravel,   stone  and  huge  boulders.     That  large  areas — in 
fa^t,  a  major  portion  of  the  lands  which  the  committee  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to   investigate  are  better  adapted  to  forestry  than  to  farming. 

14.  That  if  these  areas  are  used  for  forestry  it  will  not  interfere  in 
any   way   with    the    agricultural    development,    neither   should    farming 
interfere  with  forestry.     The  one  should  assist  the  other. 


76  REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE 

15.  With  13,000,000  acres  undeveloped  in  Northern  Wisconsin,  and 
three  and  a  quarter  million  non-agricultural — that  is  25  per  cent — there 
is  sufficient  land  for  forestry  and  yet  no  dearth  of  land  left  to  farm. 

16.  That  there   are  thousands   of   acres   of  lands  in   Northern  Wis- 
consin which  on  account  of  the  poor  soil  and  rough  nature  will  not  be 
used  for  farming  in  this  generation  or  several  to  come. 

17.  That  there  is  no  section  of  the  State  where  an  attempt  at  re- 
forestation can  produce  a  quicker  illustration  of  its  possibilities.     That 
soil  conditions  are  the  very  best  for  a  natural  reproduction  of  pine. 

18.  That    by   reason    of   the    miles    of   old    logging   grades    and    the 
hundreds  of  lakes  an  excellent  opportunity  is  afforded  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  cheap  and  good  fire  protection  system. 

19.  That  scattering  state  lands  should  be  sold  and  money  used  to 
ward  the  purchase  of  lands  in  the  proposed  permanent  reserve. 

20.  That  the  present  work   of   the   department   be  confined   to   the 
proposed  permanent  reserve. 

21.  That  small  forest  reserves  in  several  districts  are  not  practical 
on  account  of  expense  of  operation. 

22.  That  the  present  state  lands  in  the  proposed  reserve  are  ample 
upon  which  to  demonstrate  what  can  be  expected  in  this  work. 

23.  That  much  of  the  present  opposition  to  forestry  is  occasioned  by 
the  demand  for  lake  frontages. 

24.  That  by  reason  of  the  increased  demand  the  inferior  species  of 
timber  now  growing  on  the  state  lands  will  be  of  inestimable  value. 

25.  That    none    of   the   timber    owned    by    the    state    be    sold    until 
mature  or  unless  there  be  a  real  demand  for  the  land  for  agriculture. 
That  all  timber  lands  should  be  conserved. 

26.  That  more  recent  investigations  tend  to  substantiate  the  claim 
that  in  order  to  secure  a  uniform  stream  flow,  the  head-waters  of  our 
rivers  should  be  protected  with   a  forest  growth.     That  deforestation 
is  conductive  to  rapid  snow  melting  and  stream  run-off. 

27.  That  the  lands  in  the  proposed  reserve  be  retained  and  future 
purchases  be  limited  to  that  area. 

28.  That   agricultural  lands,   in   areas   of   1,000   acres   or   more,   now 
owned  by  the  state  be  classified  and  immediately  offered  for  sale  to 
actual  settlers.     That  said  lands  be  sold  cheaply,  on  long  terms,  at  a 
low    rate    of    interest.     Sold    under    some    such    provisions  as  to  their 
occupancy  and  improvements  as  now  required  under  the  United  States 
Homestead   law.     In   tracts   not   to   exceed    160   acres.     In   accordance 
with  a  bill  to  be  presented. 

29.  That   fifty   per   cent    of   all   the   frontage   on   each    lake   in   the 
proposed  reserve  be  held  by  the  State;  that  no  lake  frontage  be  sold 
unless  classified  as  of  agricultural  value  and  then  only  to  actual  settlers. 


REPORT  OF  SPECIAL  FORESTRY   COMMITTEE  77 

30.  That   the   establishment   of   the   forest   reserve   has   insured   the 
permanent    attractiveness    of    this    region    for    public    recreation    pur- 
poses. 

31.  That  the  present  taxation  law,   if  constitutional,   provides  ade- 
quate relief  to  the  assessment  districts  for  the  loss  of  taxes  on  state 
lands. 

32.  That   a   new  law  for  the   taxation   of   private   timber   lands   be 
enacted  along  the  lines  of  a  bill  herewith  presented. 

33.  That  the  following  departments  be  consolidated  under  the  head 
of  a  board  of  three  members  to  be  known  as  the  State  Conservation 
Commission:    1.     Fish    &    Game    Department;    2.    Fish    Commission; 
3.  State  Board  of  Forestry;  4.  State  Park  Board;  5.  State  Conserva- 
ion  Commission;  for  which  a  bill  is  herewith  presented. 


5£ 

-> 


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